A Son's Hope and A Father's Desire
by Usaka
Summary: Severitus Challenge but on complete Haitus. Sorry all, lost faith in HP.. on a anime kick atm. Not deleting the story because i might come back to it when the inspiration hits :
1. Prologue Contemplations and Confrontati...

_Disclaimer: I'm only gonna say this once, I own nottin but wut I make up along the way, and u'll know wut I mean when I get there…enjoy!_

Summary:  Author Notes: Okay, this is going to be a looonnnggg story, it's about Harry finding out he actually has a father, the Dursley's abuse Harry, don't worry though, nothing to graphic. He's going to find out more about himself, old enemies will become new friends, old friends will become new enemies, also appearances by old Characters and old friends, also new animals. 

Rating….around R I think

Pairings: H/D later and some R/Hr

**       Prologue – Contemplations and Confrontations**

         Remus Lupin, one of the teachers at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, sat his desk in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom contemplating on one of his favorite students.  He knew from this particular student's third year that something wasn't quite right in his household, and yet he had done nothing about it.  He was starting to get worried though, usually his student would write letters fluently throughout the summer, and yet this summer he had only got two letters, one at the beginning of each month, and they both seemed like they were written forcefully and they were not as happy as they usually were.

         Professor Lupin sighed for the millionth time thinking about this.  He could sense something was wrong with Harry because of his highly acute senses.  Because of his suspicions, none of them too positive, he decided to inform Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster of Hogwarts, of these suspicions.

         It would be Harry's, his favorite student, and one of his old best friend's son, fifth year at Hogwarts.  He knew that Harry had problems at home, he just hoped that they weren't as bad as he suspected, if they were, he just hoped that Harry would make it back to school when it starts.

         As Remus pushed these thoughts to the back of his mind, he thought on how he got the position as Professor back again.  Albus had fought tooth and nail with the School Board in order for Remus to get his job back.  You see, once people found out about his 'condition' they would either fire him from his job, or force him to leave wherever he was.

Since Remus was young he has had to hide from people.  Every full moon, including the night before and after, he would become a coldhearted monster.  The first light of the moon would initiate the most excruciating and painful change anyone would probably ever have to experience.  His body shrinks and expands in different places.  In a matter of moments, where once a man had stood, now stood, on four paws a ruthless killer.  His mournful howl strikes fear into every creature, magical or not.  It signified years of pain and loneliness and yet, it shows the truth that is buried within this warmhearted professor.

Remus Lupin has always dreaded these nights.  He is afraid that he might somehow injure or pass on his curse to another and deal them a dreadful card in their hand of life.  The professor is afraid to wake in the morning to find blood on himself, whether it would be his own or someone else's.  Every month, of every year, since the day he was inflicted with this card, he transforms into the wolf of every child's, muggle or magical, nightmare.  The wolf inside of him takes full control and howling with all its might, the wolf tells the world of its finally having achieved its freedom.  Even if it is for only one night, the wolf is free to wreak whatever havoc it desires.  It is torment for both the wolf and the man though, fighting for control over the other for eternity.  This, however, is a battle that can never be won for either of them.

With a start Remus snaps out of his thoughts.  He has always hated that part of himself and yet he has learned to live with it.  He thought to himself, a hint of amusement in his eyes, 'Even if it does taste terrible, the Wolfsbane potion allows me to keep my mind while I am in wolf form so it is well worth it.'

The wolf in Remus is the reason why he quit his job as a Professor of Hogwarts.  His secret got out at the end of the year and because he didn't want any of the students to get hurt, he resigned.  He also decided to resign because he thought the parents would hate him because of all the legends that stated all werewolves were evil and cold hearted.  When in fact, many of the parents were frightened that he would somehow bite one of the students and either injure them or infect them.  Despite the situation, Dumbledore convinced the parents that Remus is harmless with the potion.  He also convinced Remus to come back and teach.  Professor Remus was slightly nervous about coming back even though it would be fun to teach again, especially his fifth year Gryffindors.

         With this thought he was once again brought to the subject of young Harry Potter.  'Of course he isn't young anymore, he is now fifteen,' he thought to himself.  Also, from what Lily had once told him and if his own calculations were correct, Harry would look quite different when he came back to school this year.  Remus of course, would have to talk to one of the Professors here.  Even if they didn't get along that well, he owed it not only to Lily, but to Harry too.

With one more mournful glance around the classroom, he decided to finally talk to him.  He knew it wasn't going to be easy, 'but Severus Snape has the right to know the truth,' he thought to himself.  Remus knows that this is especially important to do now since someone will suspect something when they see Harry this year.  After collecting his thoughts and getting a final conclusion in his eyes, he gets up and leaves his office and heads for the Dungeons.

Behind him, the fire burnt merrily in the fireplace, as if it approved of the Professor's decision.  Besides the flickering flames from the fire, the classroom looked as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.  The fire continued to lick the stone grate around it as if trying to escape its prison long after the Professor left not knowing the serious truths that would be revealed within the next twenty four hours.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Severus Snape, Hogwarts Potions Professor, and Potions Master sat silently in his classroom thinking about the past.  Not many people knew the truth about himself and Lily Evans, not even the idiot James Potter.  In school, Lily and himself had been friends, closer even, although their houses forbid their relationship.  

They would always meet in the Library to have study sessions.  They would help each other with their weak subjects, Lily would help Severus in Transfiguration, and Severus would help Lily with Potions.  After a while they grew apart because of the Marauders and their pranks, during their fifth year, Lily had went to Potter, Severus' eye's darkened with that memory, they had started dating and Lily had totally forgotten about Severus.  They would of course talk civilly towards each other, but never like they used to, Severus became a loner like he used to be, and Lily spent all her time with the Marauders, mostly Potter.

Years after they graduated, and Severus became a loyal Death Eater to the Dark Lord, Severus found out the Lord's plan on destroying the Potters, Severus's feelings had never really changed towards Lily, so he decided to try and save her life, he went to Albus Dumbledore, one of the only people Lord Voldemort was frightened of.  

He told the Professor all about the Dark Lord's plans, under a truth potion of course, so the Headmaster knew he was telling the truth.  Severus was still believed as a loyal Death Eater, after relieving his information to the Headmaster, Lily and James Potter were sent into hiding and Severus became a spy for the side of light from that moment on.

On one of the missions, he was meant to retrieve something from the Potter's home and Dumbledore to do it at whatever measures necessary, of course he did, but regrets it more than anything.

He was quickly taken out of his thoughts at the persistent knockings at the door, grumbling to himself he quickly gets up and answers it, only to find one of his rivals from school, one of the marauders that had stolen Lily from him, the one that he had tried to get rid of two years ago by letting his secret 'slip,' and yet, he had returned.

He gives Remus Lupin one of his famous sneers, not moving to let him in.  "What do you want Lupin?"

"I need to talk to you Severus…it's about Lily."  He replies calmly, if a little quietly.

"What exactly do you mean?  If it's just to rub the fact in my face about her and Potter, I must inform you to leave."  Severus says in a deadly calm voice.

Remus doesn't seem to be effected at all by his threat, and instead asks to be let in.  Grudgingly, Snape allows him to enter his classroom and follows him to the front, Remus sitting in a seat in front of the desk while Snape takes the seat behind it.

Looking into the fire, Remus clears his throat and in an unwavering voice, starts explaining his unannounced visit.  "Severus, do you remember, that time when I found you leaving Lily and James house one morning, around 15 years ago?"

Looking up sharply, Severus contemplates his answer carefully before answering, "I do, although I have no idea why this concerns me right now Re-."

But he was cut off by Remus interrupting him, his voice cold, which was unusually for the Professor.  "It has everything to do with this.  After that day, Lily began to get sick, and have mood swings, she confided in me what had happened that night, she suspected it wasn't James because he came home the next day, apparently clueless about what happened two nights ago."

Severus paled with each word Remus spoke, thinking about what he was saying, his voice inside of him kept telling him one thing, but he chose to ignore it and hope that what Remus was saying had nothing to do with it.

"Around nine months later, she gave birth to Harry, not telling a single soul about her suspicion but me, she could tell that Harry wasn't James Potter's son, as everyone suspected.  She cast an extremely powerful spell over Harry when he was young that was to last until his fifteenth birthday, when it would wear off within minutes of midnight."

Remus looked over to Severus only to find the Professor deep in though, staring into the fire, after a few moments he looked up, his face totally blank with nothing showing in his eyes, although Remus could sense a certain feeling radiating off of Snape that enforced Remus' thoughts and he continued on.

"I have a strong suspicion that you know exactly what I mean Severus, and he has to know the truth, whether or not you would like him to."

Severus looks up as Remus finishes, he has his doubts, but deep inside he knew that the man in front of him was telling the truth, although he couldn't think of the possibilities that this information could suggest.  After all he's done to him, how could it possibly be true, they absolutely loathed each other…didn't they?

As Remus watched the man in front of him, he watched several emotions cross the usually emotionless professor's face, first was disbelief, to angry, to confusion, to self loathing, to dread, and finally, something that looked oddly like hope.

After Remus let Severus collect his thoughts, he cleared his throat.  "I suspect that you would like to hear about the spell, and believe me when I tell you this Severus, Harry will understand.  That child, well teenager now, doesn't have it in him to hate anyone, I even wonder if he hates the Dark Lord.  It might take a while, and there might be some rough times, but in the end, I truly believe that Harry will understand."

Severus looks up at Remus for a moment before looking back into the fire, his face becoming a blank mask once again.  After a minute or so passed, he finally speaks up in a small voice.  "How can he possibly believe this, after all I've done to him, he'll think its just some cruel trick that I'm doing to make fun of him.  He'll never believe it Remus, he thinks I loathe him, and I'm fairly certain that the feeling is mutual.  How could we…what could we possibly do to show him it's the truth.  I mean, I'm not exactly sure on what I'm feeling, you know I'm not a people person,"  he grudgingly replies, a feeling of mutual respect coming between the two with the understanding of the tasks ahead.

Remus takes a deep breath, and slowly lets it out, trying to collect his thoughts.  "Well, the first thing we should do is to tell Dumbledore, I mean if we are to tell Harry, the Headmaster has to know."

Severus merely gives a slight tip of his head to show he agrees, allowing Remus to continue.   

"I'm sure that, if we don't come up with anything, Albus will figure something out, you know as well as I do that Harry trusts him, maybe even more than me."

"What will Albus say when he finds out, how do you know that it'll be positive anyways.  Wait a minute, why the hell are you telling me this now?  Why not in his third year?  Why now of all times?"

"Well," Remus says picking his words carefully, "the spell Lily cast will wear off on his fifteenth birthday, not only that, I have a certain suspicion that…Harry's…err…home life isn't going very well.  In fact, I have a reason to believe that it's not going very well at all, and if that's the truth, then only a living family member could take him away from the muggles."

Severus looks up sharply, his eyes becoming darker and darker with every word that Remus says, at the end his eyes are almost totally black.  "What aren't you telling me Lupin?"  Severus basically snarls.

Remus looks slightly troubled, as if he's trying to decide whether or not to tell Severus the truth.  After a minute, with Severus never taking his eyes off him, he sighs.  "In Harry's third year, on the train when he fainted because of the dementor, his shirt rode up a little on his back, no one else noticed it because they were to busy with there own thoughts.  Harry's stomach and back, from what I could see were covered in bruises…"

Remus let this sink in for a second and then continued on before Severus had the chance to question him.  "I discreetly put a note inside Harry's pocket," he smiles and says in a sarcastic voice, "ironically my werewolf abilities come in handy once in a while.  Anyways," he shakes his head to clear it.  "The note asked him to come up to my room after the feast, not wanting to draw attention, I told him to use his father's cloak.  I knew that this would spark his interest, he knew that not many people knew about James' cloak, let alone that he had it."

He sighs deeply before continuing on, "like I asked, he came, although I should say a little bit on the frightened side.  I asked him what he was frightened of after I gave him some tea," Remus chuckles softly remembering his first talk with Harry.  "He told me that he was afraid I would be mad at him for showing a weakness against the dementors, anyways I explained that I asked him up for a different reason, the boy literally sunk in his chair.  He was obviously relieved, that is until I said what I had seen.  I've never seen anyone change emotions so quickly, so many emotions spread across his face that I had no idea what to do.  So I waited until he was somewhat calmed down, some of the emotions I could pick out were fear, anger, shame, he was also very confused, but what really touched me was that tiniest hint of hope, that little spark told me that no one knew about this.  That I would be able to at least help him, if not get him away from them."

Severus at this point seemed to get a hold of himself and he interrupted, "what do you mean 'them?'  Will you just tell me already instead of hopping around the subject Remus?!" he says half exasperated, half afraid of what might be actually said.

Remus looks at him piercingly for a moment, measuring up Severus, seeing if he could tell him the truth, and how he could say it.  After a moment of complete silence, Severus slightly begging with his eyes to tell him the truth, Remus sighs and continues in a dead voice, empty of all emotion what so ever.

"He told me then, with the help of a discreet, wandless calming charm, what happens every summer when he returns to the muggles.  He told me all that they have done, all that they did before he was sent the letter about Hogwarts."  Holding a hand up to stop Severus' interjection he continues.  "He told me that Vernon would beat him for any little thing that had gone wrong in the house before he left for Hogwarts, no matter how small it was.  He told me that this had gone on for as long as he could remember, Dudley, his cousin, had this sport that he and his friends had done that was called Harry Hunting, you can probably guess as to what it was about.

"Harry told me he didn't know what it was like to be loved as a kid, he never had anyone to show him parental affection, he even told me about how he didn't have any friends because of Dudley and his gang.  Anyways, Harry told me that the beatings had stopped after he first left for school, but had started up the summer after his second year for reasons he didn't know.  After he told me all this I healed him, he refused to go to the hospital wing even more so about going to the headmaster.  He thought himself a disgrace, and didn't want to tell Albus about something that would make him look down on himself. 

"He begged for me to not tell anyone, and I had to promise, although I taught him some muggle ways of bandaging, since he couldn't use magic over the holidays.  I taught him everything I knew that I thought would help him through the summer, I even bought him some magical healing gems from some stores in Diagon Alley.  He told me that he would owl me if anything happened the next summer, he didn't know it but if he said anything wrong I was going to go straight to Dumbledore.  As it turned out, that summer nothing appeared to happen, I guessed that they had stopped abusing him because of Sirius' reputation.  We stayed in contact over the year, well him with Sirius mostly because he didn't want his friends to find out anything was happening."

Severus, after hearing all this finally got his voice back, "You mean to tell me that my SON is being beaten by an obese MUGGLE?!"  He basically roars, his eyes flashing black with rage, Remus actually flinches back from the rage that is rolling off of the Potions Master.


	2. Chapter 1: Explanations and a Birthday

_Previously: _

_         Severus, after hearing all this finally got his voice back, "You mean to tell me that my SON is being beaten by an obese MUGGLE?!"  He basically roars, his eyes flashing black with rage, Remus actually flinches back from the rage that is rolling off of the Potions Master._

**               Chapter 1 – Explanations and A Birthday**

"Calm down Severus!  I'm not exactly sure, I'm worried that that may be the case, but I'm not sure, he's only owled me and Sirius twice this summer, once a few days after the end of school and another exactly 2 weeks later.  From my past experiences, he owls me and Sirius at least three to four times a month.  His letters usually have some what of a cheerfulness to them, but these seem to be, I don't know, forced or bleak."

Severus sighs, trying to contain his rage, one thought going through his head, 'God I hope he's alright!'

"Now that we've got that over with, it's your choice whether or not we go to Albus or not.  I know it'll be hard with going back to Voldemort and everything, but I highly suggest that we tell both Albus and Harry about this.  If anything you might save Harry from his Uncle for the rest of this summer."

"I-I don't know what to do.  I have to tell at least Albus, and now that I know, I'm completely positive that I'm not going to be a complete bastard to him anymore in class…which will show that something's up automatically."  Severus sighs, his conscious splitting in two, one side saying to just drop everything and get Harry to at least recognize him as a friend, let alone a father.  The other side wanting to ignore this and follow his duties as a spy for Dumbledore, to protect Harry in the process from Voldemort and everything else.

"I for one am going straight to Albus, even if nothing's wrong, we have to check on him, even if he doesn't realize it."

"Are you suggesting we go and spy on Harry?"  Severus says, his eyes finally becoming a little brighter.

"In a sense, yes, but I wouldn't recognize it as spying, only as 'checking up on a student while in disguise.'"  Remus says his voice betraying his humor.

"Well, before we go 'checking up on a student while in disguise,' we have to go to Albus, we'll have to tell him the entire story too.  Whether he believes it or not, I'm going to go get Harry tonight!"

"I'm sure he'll let us go get him if there's even a chance that Harry's being mistreated.  Well we should go now, before it gets to late, I'm sure the Headmaster wouldn't want us to wait any longer than we have to."

Severus gives a slight nod before he motions Remus to go ahead of him, he silently follows after a moment of silence, his black robes billowing out from behind him.  Both the professors heading in a quick walk for the Headmaster's office thinking their own thoughts on the future, one going through both their minds.  'How the hell are we going to tell this to Black/Padfoot!?'

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

         "Come in," a cheerful voice says from behind two large wooden doors.  Remus and Severus walk in, seeing Albus Dumbledore sitting at his desk, his pensieve in front of him and Fawkes, his phoenix standing on his knee.  His blue eyes, sparkling behind the half moon glasses, gives the two men a piercing look before motioning for them to sit down.  His eyes slightly dulling when he notices the identical grim looks on both the men's faces.        

         "What do I owe the pleasure of this visit gentlemen?  Would you like some tea?"

         "No thank you Albus, we have come, not for a social visit, but for an issue that will effect quite a few people, I'm sorry to say but this will not be a sit and chat visit."  Remus says lightly, trying to make the mood a little more enjoyable.  

         Severus glares at him, "this is _not_ a matter to talk lightly Lupin!" he says coldly, turning back to the headmaster he starts explaining their unannounced visit.  "Earlier this evening, Remus came into my classroom to talk about a certain student."  He says carefully, trying to stay away from the truth as long as possible, Remus shakes his head, slightly amused next to Severus while Albus's interest in the matter is captured.

         "Well, stop stalling and tell him Severus!  That is unless you want me too, I'm sure that I could do it very easily."

         "Shut up Lupin, I'm perfectly capable of relaying this explanation with out your smart remarks."  Severus replies acidly before he turned  back to the Headmaster who was getting more and more confused by the minute.

         "As I was saying, we were talking for a  few minutes before he brought up one of the missions the Dark Lord had me do over fifteen years ago."  At this he pauses to let that sink in, Albus's eyes loose any sign of a twinkle and his features seem to grow older and more wearisome. 

         "This was the time you told me to do everything possible to make sure the mission was a success, do you remember which job this was?"

         Albus leans back in his chair, a thoughtful expression over his face, after a minute of silence Albus nods his head in a positive motion.  "If I recall correctly, you were to go into the Potters' house and contain an artifact, I recall telling you to do anything and everything possible to gain it because Voldemort was starting to question where your loyalties lied."

         Severus lowers his head in a shameful motion, he takes a minute before he continues on, "yes, that was the time, anyways I never told you exactly what really happened…"

Flashback

         A younger Severus Snape glares down at a cauldron, a dark, thick mixture bubbled sluggishly.  He slowly takes a small glass and puts a ladleful of the mixture into it, he then takes out a small vial containing a single, short black hair.  He adds it to the mixture with a tiny sigh, it hissed and frothed furiously before settling down and turning a striking maroon color.  Sighing once more, he pores the potion into another vial and puts a piece of cork in it, as to not spill it.  Looking down at the cauldron once more, he disappears with a small 'pop'.

End of Flashback

         "I used the Polyjuice Potion to take on Potter's appearance, after I finished I apparated outside of their home.  After arriving a took the Potion and quickly entered the home, not wasting one second of the disguise because I only had one hour to find what I was there to find.  

"Lily was supposed to be gone out shopping at the time, like you said, but she appeared to have either finished already or had decided to wait a little longer, anyways, she found me looking in the study.  She thought I was truly James, she  was surprised at first that I was there, then she figured I finished what James had to do.  Anyways this was only moments from when I took the potion, and entered the house."  Here Severus paused for a moment, trying to continue, Albus looked slightly surprised, this was a different version from what Severus had told him before.

"She-She asked me to come to bed early, I tried to stall so I could get out, b-but she refused, eventually, as to not make me look suspicious, I had to agree."  Severus looks down in shame as he continues, "I-I slept with her that night Albus, she fell asleep afterwards, the potion would be wearing off within minutes so I had to leave, on the way out, I was to the door when the potion started to wear off, I could feel my features slowly taking on the rightful appearances.  That's when I ran into Remus…he was coming over to check on Lily, at James's request."

The Headmaster looks on with a stunned expression, slowly turning into a calculating one.  Motioning for Severus to continue, he takes a glance at Remus, his face mirroring guilt in every feature.

"He figured out what had happened, he could smell it on me…I had to tell him the truth then, I had to make him believe that I hadn't meant for that to happen, in the end he agreed not to tell anyone, knowing that it would most likely have mostly bad conclusions.  Lily must have known what had happened, or at least had suspicions, from what I know she never told James about that night."

Albus sighs as he listens to Severus finish, he has a few suspicions as to what the Potions Master was saying, but all of which were hard to comprehend.  Looking up, he realizes that the Professor in front of him regrets this more than anything.  Sighing once again he says one sentence that not a sound could be heard from the Headmasters office for a while.

"You do not have to finish Severus, I'm well aware of the birth that happened, almost exactly nine months after that night."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

         Thousands of miles away, a young teenager sits up on bed thinking about a dream he had had a little while ago.  He got them a lot lately, ever since the Dark Lord had risen once again at the end of his forth year.

         You see, this young man wasn't any normal child, he was actually a wizard, a famous one at that.  He was Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, the only one who has on numerous occasions, have met the Dark Lord and has walked away alive.  Yet, Harry had never wanted all the attention, he's always wanted to be a normal boy, and live a normal life.

         In every year since he had started going to Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Harry has always had some sort of life threatening adventure, whether it was with Voldemort, or his servants.

         In his first year, Harry had found out who he actually was, and what his parents had done, he had also confronted the Dark Lord and his servant Professor Quirrell, protecting the Sorcerers Stone.  In his second year, the Chamber of Secrets was opened, Harry was accused of being the Heir of Slytherin and also opening the Chamber.  In the end it was found out to be Ginny Weasley, his best friend, Ron Weasley's younger sister, she had been taken over by a younger Dark Lord with the help of a diary.  He had to fight and Defeat Tom M. Riddle, or Lord Voldemort, and a Basilisk deep within the Chambers walls.  

In his third year, he went through the most of it thinking a murderer, and his Godfather, Sirius Black was out to kill him like he supposedly killed his parents by giving their location to Voldemort.  In reality, it was actually Peter Pettigrew, or Ron's pet rat Scabbers, he was an illegal animagus by the nickname of Scabbers.  At the end of the year, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, Harry, and Ron met up in the Shrieking Shack at the end of Hogsmeade, not under regular circumstances either.  The truth finally came out that at the last minute, the Potters had changed their secret keeper from Sirius to Wormtail at the last minute, with no one knowing about the change.  Wormtail then ran to his master and turned the Potters over to him, and on Hollow's eve, at Godrics Hollow, the Potters died, and Harry seemingly defeated the Dark Lord, at one year of age.  

Sirius had then hunted Pettigrew down in the middle of a street filled with muggles, Pettigrew framed Sirius and blew the street apart faking his own death, and from then on Sirius had stayed in Azkaban, the Wizard Prison.  Later that night, Pettigrew escaped from his captors and returned to his master.

Last year, Harry's fourth year, he was somehow entered into the Tri-Wizard Tournament, and had to go through three tasks, with a rogue Death Eater watching his every move.  In the final task, Harry and one other was transported by Portkey to a graveyard.  There, Harry watched his friend be murdered by the Avada Kedavra Curse, in other words, instant Death.  Later, he unwillingly took part in resurrecting his foe, Lord Voldemort, and had to then Duel with him, surrounded by numerous Death Eaters.

After a fight and the duel, and after Prior Incantatem was performed, Harry escaped back to Hogwarts, via the Portkey that first brought him to the graveyard, also taking Cedric Diggory's body back to Hogwarts and his parents.  He then had to deal with the rogue Death Eater at Hogwarts, overall his Fourth Year at Hogwarts was the most eventful one, he had lost a friend, helped resurrect one of the evilest Dark Lords of the Century, saw the shades of his parents when Prior Incantatem was performed, and the only people that believed that Voldemort was back was Dumbledore and few select others.  The Minister was being blind and wouldn't except the fact, and now as Harry lay down in bed thinking about all his years he wondered if this would be his last, because thinking about it, every year seemed to becoming more dangerous as each year passed.

Harry knew that something big was happening, he would have dreams each night with Voldemort torturing muggles to death, most of the time doing disgusting and mortifying things with them first.  Each night, Harry would wake up breathing hard, and in a cold sweat dreading he had awakened his uncle with his soft whimpering or gasp upon awakening.

He hadn't written to anyone about these dreams, not only knowing it would only make the burden heavier for the person, but also because he didn't have an owl or other means of contacting people.  After sending his last letter to Sirius, his godfather, Harry had sent Hedwig, his snowy owl, off to his friend Hermione's house.  He fought the dreams every night, if they weren't of Voldemort, they would be dreams ridden with guilt.  He would dream of Cedric accusing him of murdering him, saying it was all Harry's fault he was dead, Harry agreed with him most of the time, he had insisted that both boys should take the cup, that it would be a 'Hogwarts victory' nonetheless, that resulted in having Cedric lying dead next to him, the sound of rushing death still rang in Harry's ears whenever he was alone.

The dream he had woken up to tonight was actually one of the less horrible, Voldemort seemed to be looking for something, of course, the muggles who he was asking didn't know anything, and the muggles were from all over Britain.  What Voldemort was looking for, Harry didn't know, although he had a suspicion it was a person, and that person was him.  He just couldn't figure out why Voldemort was asking muggles and not wizards.  But figured it was because he didn't want to alert the Ministry that he was back, and more terrifying then ever.

Moving slowly, wincing in pain as he did so, Harry moved over to the mirror to see the latest damage that had been done from waking up his uncle.  His appearance had changed desperately since he had left Hogwarts, his figure had grown a little taller, yet he had lost a lot of wait.  The skin that was showing was deathly pale, and had all different shades of bruises, his ribs poked out from his skin.  You could tell which were cracked and broken by just looking at them, the Dursleys were furious with what happened to Dudley last summer, and had taken it out on Harry since he had come home.  

They had locked Harry into his room like they did in his summer before his second year, they had barred the windows and stripped the room of everything but the bed, mattress and the thinnest blanket they owned.

Harry, figuring it wasn't going to be the best summer, had sent Hedwig off to Hermione, since she didn't have an owl, and was one of Harry's best friends he decided it would be best for her to hold on to his owl.  She was suspicious at the time but had agreed to watch Hedwig anyways for Harry.

Looking over to the clock, he realized he would be fifteen in a few minutes, he already knew that he wouldn't be getting any presents this year, he hasn't been able to talk to anyone from the wizarding world since the beginning of the summer, Dumbledore had said it was due to protecting him from being found.  It would be Harry's first year without getting anything for his birthday since he went to Hogwarts, even though he never got anything before, he was still slightly disappointed.

11:58 The clock read.

Tick

Tock 

Tick 

Tock 

11:59

Suddenly, Harry felt tingling spreading throughout his body, from his head traveling down through his arms and legs to his fingers and toes.  As soon as it began it was gone, looking over to the clock he watched it turn to 12:00.  Dreading what he would see he looked back into the mirror, he had to stifle a yell at what he saw.  The person that was staring back at him wasn't the person that had stood there moments before.

He had apparently grown a few inches, his hair had lengthened and became more fine toned it reached down to right above his shoulders, his skin, from what wasn't bruised, became even more pale like, his eyes became more defined and his face became more lengthened and elegant.  He looked closer, he thought he looked like someone he knew, and it was just so familiar, yet not.  Although, it seemed to look more appropriate now, he felt slightly more graceful, if it wasn't for his twisted ankle anyways.  

After a more scrutinizing look, he jumped back with a shock, disbelief painted throughout his face, he looked like someone he knew alright!  He looked like the person that he detested more than anything, well besides Voldemort and Malfoy, he looked like the dreaded Potions Master of Hogwarts, the person that almost everyone else, besides the Slytherins, hated and despised…


	3. Chapter 2: Odd Stuff & the Rescue Part 1

                   Chapter 2 – Some Odd Stuff, Mostly the Rescue Part 1 

         As silence descends over the three people within an office, and one startled teenager looks into a mirror, another person, if you could call him that, was brooding over something.  An enormous snake slithered its way up to this man, a slight hissing voice could be heard, the snake coiled itself around the large thrown the man was sitting on.  It appeared to have followed an order from the man.

         After a few moments of silence, a whimpering could be heard, drawing closer and closer towards the chamber holding the man.  As it drew to a halt outside the door, fear could be felt as it rolled of the middle-aged man.  He was overweight and was starting to go bald.  The most distinct feature of the man was not in fact, his bald spot, or obesity.  It was indeed, a silver hand connected to his arm.

         The man knocked once, twice, and then a third time upon the door and it swung open without a problem.  The man staggered to the base of the throne and bowed, stuttering all the while.  "M-m-master, th-the others a-a-are out-outside await-aw-awaiting your o-o-orders."  He managed to get out before finally returning to silent whimpering.

         The man on the throne looked up, his violent red eyes flashing in disgust at the worthless figure in front of him, a smirk appearing on his face as he thought of the loyal followers that had come back to him a few months before.  He looked back down at the pathetic creature before him for a moment, enjoying the fear that radiated off of him, as his tremors were evident through his heavy woolen cloak.

         "Thank you Wormtail, bring them in.  I would like to talk with them all."

         "Y-yes Ma-Master, r-right awa-away."  He stuttered before quickly leaving through the doors he had entered, the man upon the throne just smiled maniacally, one thought running through his mind as he mindlessly petted his large snake.

         'You will not live the year through Potter, enjoy your life while you can.'  With that thought coursing through his entire being, the Dark Lord let out a terrible and evil laugh that filled the chamber he was in, two of the many figures  that were entering the room shivered in anticipation, not wanting to go back, but knowing that they must, or many lives would be at risk.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

         Harry stumbled back from the mirror, tripping over his feet in his haste, wincing slightly from the jar of falling.  He looked down to his hands, and back up to the mirror in a terrified silence.  "Bloody Hell," he whispered, his voice sounding different, it appeared to be deeper and smooth.  

         Harry was so deep in though he failed to hear the heavy footsteps of his uncle coming down the hall.  By the time he realized his uncle was in his room, it was to late, a meaty fist connected with his face and Harry sprawled across the floor, his lip re-opening from before.  Harry looked up, with a blank look in his eyes, only to turn to fear.

         His uncle was purple with rage, his face blotched from restraining himself from screaming, and his body trembled with hate as he looked on to his 'nephew.'  "What did I tell you about waking us up again BOY!"  He roared, his breathes coming quick and shallow.

         Harry tried to shy away from his uncle, but a quick kick to his side made him stop, he winced and whimpered to himself, 'I won't give in, he won't hear me cry.'  He kept thinking to himself.  He was afraid for his life, as he had never seen his uncle the furious before.  As his uncle came forward, and started the abuse, Harry's last thought before falling from consciousness was, 'someone, please help.'

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

         Remus Lupin, Albus Dumbledore, and Severus Snape continued to sit in silence since the Albus's last sentence, all of them lost in their own thoughts of what would happen within the next months.  Suddenly, as if waking up from a dream Remus leaned forward in his chair.

         "Now, I know this will affect Harry, but there are more pressing matters to be taken care of at the moment.  Albus, I suggest someone go to Harry's house to check up on him.  I do not trust those muggles as far as Severus can throw them."

         Albus' eyes regained a tiny twinkle with that thought, yet his face remains in its worrisome nature.  "Ah yes, the Dursleys.  They are certainly a bunch of muggles, if ever there were any aren't they?"

         Remus nods, while Severus starts to get impatient, "Will you hurry up Lupin?  If it's possible I want to get Harry out of that wretched place as soon as possible."

         Both Albus and Remus look over at the fuming Potions Master, both surprised of the open concern he had for Harry.

         Seeing the looks they were giving him, Severus snapped before anything else could be said.  "What, he's my son for Merlin's sake, and if what Lupin says is true, I want him out of there, I don't want those muggles laying another finger anywhere near Harry!"

         Albus looked  sharply at Remus, his eyes searching for an answer.  Remus looked down quickly, "What does Severus  mean Remus?  What exactly aren't you telling me?"

         Remus sighs before looking back up, defeat written all over his features.  "In Harry's third year, I came across some interesting news.  I had promised Harry I wouldn't say anything to anyone, but I have already broken that promise because I told Severus.  Anyways, I have my reasons, but I believe that Harry's Muggle relatives, they have, oh Merlin!  They have been abusing him both physically and mentally, and I have reason to believe that's what's going on this summer.  

         "You see, like I told Severus, Harry usually owls me and Padfoot constantly throughout the summer, although this summer, he's been distant, and we haven't gotten nearly as many letters.  Anyways, I promised myself that if this happened I would go to you, otherwise I would help Harry in any other way I could."

         Albus leaned back in his chair thoughtfully before speaking up again, "do you have any proof that this is going on, not that I don't believe you or anything, it's just that I need some evidence before I can send anyone out to get him."  He said quickly as he saw Severus beginning to protest.

         "I've seen the bruises myself, and he's told me about his life, under a wandless calming charm that is, how much more evidence would you possibly need Headmaster?"  Remus said desperately, thinking that they might not be able to get Harry out of there after all.

         Severus jumped in before things got out of hand.  "Why would you need evidence at all Albus?  I mean he's my son so I can just go check on him myself, and if they are mistreating him then I'll bring him back here, and if not then I'll still bring him back, simple as that."

         Albus coughed to hide a small smile that had escaped at Severus's little speech.  "I'm sorry to say, but even if you're his father, and we take him away from there, and the Ministry should happen to find out, how are we going to exactly explain it to them.  'I'm sorry Cornelius but we thought Harry was being mistreated so we thought we would bring him here…oh, well his father gave us permission to remove him from the Muggles' care…why Severus is his father of course!'  I'm just trying to make a point Severus, I do want to have someone to go and check up on him, but there are simply too many things that could go wrong that could jeopardize other things, one of which is your job as a spy."  Albus stated carefully.  Both Remus and Severus leaned back in their chairs trying to figure out a way to do this without rising suspicions.

         While the three men thought up different tactics to get Harry out of the Dursley's care, a voice suddenly was heard, echoing throughout the room like it came from far away.  'Someone, please help,' it repeated over and over for a few minutes before they finally recognized it as Harry's voice.  Severus jumped out and was about to run out the room before Remus' quick reflexes caught him at the door.

         "Let go Lupin, my son just asked for help, and I'm going to him.  So Let.  Go.  Now."

         Remus just shakes his head, not letting go before he turns to the headmaster, "is it safe to say, that we have a way to go get Harry?"

         Albus just stands and walks over to them, "we most certainly do, although it would be best if all three of us go, just to be safe…I just have to make Minerva aware that we will be gone for at least an hour, it'll only take a moment."

         He quickly went to the fire, tossed some purple powder in and exclaimed, "Minerva McGonagall"!  The flames turned a purple shade before a head popped out.  It was a severe and strict-looking woman.  Her hair, streaked with gray, was put in a tight bun in the back of her head.  She looked at the Headmaster, a questioning look in her eyes.

         "We will be gone for at least an hour Minerva, can you look after things while we're away?  I don't have time to explain now, but we have to leave, it is quite urgent.  Could you have Poppy stand by just incase we arrive in need of medical attention?"

         "As you wish Albus.  Is anything the matter, and will you need any assistance?"

         "We'll explain when we get back, we do not need any more people, but thank you for the offer.  Come along you two, we have to get outside the wards before we can apparate."

         With that, Albus, Remus, and Severus (AN: did anyone besides me realize that their names all end with 'us'…so does Sirius, that's just weird…anyways back to the Fic) all exited down the staircase, leaving a confused Transfiguration teacher behind.  With a small 'pop' Minerva's head disappeared from the fireplace, and the room was now empty except for Fawkes, who sat quietly on his perch.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

         Three tiny 'pops' could be heard on Private Drive at approximately two am.  If someone were to look, they would have seen three rather unique people walking swiftly towards a house, particularly the house at #4 Private Drive.  All three of them stopped momentarily at the front gate, the tallest, motioning for the other two to go ahead of him.  

         "We will go in quietly.  I'll put sleeping charms on the three muggles, just as a precaution, we will start downstairs and work our way up."  Albus whispered quietly as they approached the front door.

         As they walked in, Remus stops suddenly, he looks around for a moment, and then turns to Albus, an urgent look in his eyes.  "Albus, this house…it reeks with hate, anger and fear.  Its overwhelming, I can barely breathe!"  He whispers out trying to hold back a cough.

         Albus shook his head gravely.  "We must hurry, I'll check the living room for Harry's 

thi–"

         Remus shook his head violently.  "No.  Harry told me they keep his things in a cupboard under the stairs, he said it was his old room…"

         Severus turned around.  Behind him were the stairs, and now all they had to do was find the door.

         They look in confusion at the stairs, which appeared to have no doors, let alone a room there.  Remus, remembered hearing from Lily once that her sister loved to redecorate, walked forward running his hands along the wall, feeling for any sign of a crease, or indentation betraying the door.

         His hands stopped over a portion that was near the middle of the stairs, he felt along, and yes!  There's the door, he took out his wand and, using the Severing Charm, he cut the wall paper.  Sure enough, there was the door…only missing the handle.

         "Well, I have to say Remus that was impressive,"  Severus admitted grudgingly.  He never would have thought that the muggles would have hid a door like that, "Anyways, we have to hurry, or those Police men will come.  Merlin knows we don't need those imbeciles here too."

         Remus nodded while he swung the door open with the help of his wand.  Inside they found Harry's trunk and Firebolt.  Shrinking them, and using a feather-weight spell on the trunk they pocketed the items and headed upstairs.

         The first room they came to was a spare bedroom.  It seemed to be unoccupied at the moment, so they headed to the next.  Inside they found Dudley, he appeared to be sleeping, his fat bouncing with every snore.  

         Snape sneered at the disgusting sight, 'how can they live with something like that?' he wondered to himself quietly.  Looking around they found that his room was buried in toys and junk, most of which seemed to be broken.

         After Dumbledore finished the sleeping charm, they went to the next bedroom.  It appeared to be the master bedroom because inside were Vernon and Petunia Dursley.  Severus sneered at them before quickly leaving, knowing if he had stayed there any longer he would have done something that he would later regret.  Well that is, he _might_ regret, as Remus and Albus came back out from putting charms on the last two muggles they headed for the last door.

         As they opened it, Remus physically recoiled from the room, even Albus and Severus could smell the different emotions.  Fear, hate, anger, and depression were just a few that hung within the air.  They looked around and found that this room was basically empty, there was nothing except a tiny bed with a thin sheet on it, and empty owl cage, in which identified this room as Harry's.  As they peered closer, they realized that there was actually a mirror along the wall, and what appeared to be a small pile of rags on the floor next to it.

         "Where is he?"  Albus asked, looking around for any sign of Harry, getting more and more worried by the minute.  When he looked over to Remus for an observation he saw the young werewolf staring at the pile of rags in shock and horror.  Looking back, and taking a closer inspection, both Albus and Severus realized it wasn't a pile of rags at all, but a badly beaten Harry, and by the looks of it, unconscious.


	4. Chapter 3: The Rescue Part 2

_Previously: _

_         "Where is he?"  Albus asked, looking around for any sign of Harry, getting more and more worried by the minute.  When he looked over to Remus for an observation he saw the young werewolf staring at the pile of rags in shock and horror.  Looking back, and taking a closer inspection, both Albus and Severus realized it wasn't a pile of rags at all, but a badly beaten Harry, and by the looks of it, unconscious._

                             Chapter 3 – The Rescue Part 2 

Severus lets out a strangled yell as he rushes over to his son's side.  Looking over him carefully, he realized that Harry was barely alive, and by the looks of it, not holding on by much.  Looking up, he found Albus on the other side of Harry, his appearance very grave and worrying.  

         "We have to do something Albus, he's barely alive."

         "I know, we have to get him to Hogwarts, to Poppy, but he's no where near in the shape to apparate or go by Floo Powder."

         Remus finally came out of his initial shock and walked over.  "Well we have to do something, we're grown wizards for Merlin's sake!  We should know at least some healing spells that can sustain Harry until we get back to Hogwarts."

         "Right.  Hmm…we should clean the blood up first and then check the major injuries.  First, _clensio!_"  Albus said under his breath, as a cleansing white light came out of the tip of his wand and surrounded Harry.  When it disappeared, there was no more dried blood on the poor boy.  The only blood that was left was from the more recent cuts and cuts that had reopened.

         Severus took out a potion and tipped it carefully towards Harry's mouth.  The silver liquid fells into his mouth, he swallowed it when Severus lightly rubbed his neck.

         Looking up, he realized that the two other men were looking at him for some kind of explanation.  "It's a potion that heals and minor internal injuries, I brought it just in case."

         Albus just shakes his head, "and you were wondering if you could be a father or not," he said under his breath.  Luckily only Remus heard it, and he only smiled a tiny bit.

         "Well, I can mend some of his bones, but I'm afraid it won't be that easy.  I can only fix his arms and legs.  I'm afraid I don't want to mess anything up with his chest, well more than it already is."

         "Right.  I'll carry him, and we'll just leave the rest for Poppy.  If not, I'm sure she'll have a hernia about us treating her patients.  I swear that woman is way to strict!"  Severus mumbled the last part, but was heard by both Albus and Remus.  They let off a soft laugh, silently agreeing on that part.

         Severus lightly picked up Harry, who shifted in his troubled sleep slightly.  As he looked down at his newly found son, he let out the tiniest smile.  Even if his son was battered, and bruised, he still looked so innocent while sleeping.

         Albus, and Remus gently left the room, waiting for Severus to follow, not interrupting his thoughts.  As they reached the outside, Albus stated  a matter-of-factly, his twinkle back in his eye, "Well, we don't have to worry about him being a bad father do we?"

         Remus smiled slightly, "I guess we don't.  Will Harry be alright?  I mean, he looked pretty bad."

         "I'm sure he'll be fine once he gets a little rest and a lot of chocolate."  Albus said in a light tone, although his eyes had once again lost their twinkle.

         As he finished that sentence, Severus came out, holding Harry protectively against his chest.  He walked up to them in a hurried manner.  "He woke up for a second, I don't think he realized who I was though because he fell back asleep, although I think he has an idea of where's he's going.  He tried to say something, but I guess he was to weak, he fell back asleep after that."

         Albus and Remus simultaneously shook their heads.  With three small 'pops' the three grown men and the young adult disappeared without a trace.

         Later that morning, screams of outrage could be heard coming from the Dursley's home, particularly from Vernon Dursley who had awakened to find that his 'nephew' had somehow escaped during the night.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

         Poppy Pomfrey was just sitting down to eat her small, private dinner, when she first heard the desperate yelling coming from down the hall.  Quickly getting up, all thoughts of dinner fleeing from her mind, she entered the hospital wing as Albus Dumbledore, Remus Lupin, and Severus Snape came bursting through the doors.

         Before anything could be said, a soft moan could be heard coming from the person within Severus's grasp.

         Gently moving Harry over to bed and setting him down, Poppy came rushing forward, finally coming over the shock of seeing one of her favorite patients, not that she would admit it, in such obvious pain.

         Pushing Severus out of the way, not even apologizing, she turned to Harry, who had just started to open his eyes.

         At first, all Harry could see was white, then he could smell the strong smell of medicines, and with a jolt he realized he was in the hospital wing at Hogwarts.  But that couldn't be right, he was at home in his room, he should be on the floor in a pool of blood, this had to be a dream.

         Looking around though, as the room came into clearer focus, he apparently had his glasses still, he realized he was indeed at Hogwarts, with four somber faces looking down at him, all of which holding intense worry.

         Feeling suddenly very uncomfortable, Harry muttered a small 'hello,' which immediately inspired an attack of coughing, in which ended up with blood falling onto his hand.  Getting slightly queasy from the intense pain and the sight of coughing up his own blood, Harry promptly fainted.  

         Poppy rushed to his side to make sure he was alright, making sure he would be fine for a few minutes, Poppy turned to the other occupants of the room and immediately ushered them out, going on and on about how she couldn't do any work on Mr. Potter if there were an audience, and that they would only be a hindrance if they stayed.

         As the three walked silently up to the Headmaster's office once again, they were all lost in thought.  Not one of them had uttered a word since Harry had woken up, afraid that if they spoke too loudly, it would break the small boy even farther.

         Muttering the password, and about ready to head up the stair case, a worried Minerva McGonagall arrived.  Smiling slightly in a reassuring manner, Albus motioned for her to go on ahead up the stairs.  Looking slightly miffed, Minerva entered the stairway, the other three following silently behind her.

         As they all entered the wooden doors that led into the office, Albus motioned for them all to take seats.

         Minerva was the first to break the unnatural silence, "Would someone be so kind to update me as to what is happening here?  You had me worried sick when you just up and left me here without giving me a reason as to why.  Not to mention, you come back, maybe 40 minutes later yelling like mad men for Poppy.  I was up in the owlry delivering some of the final letters, when I first heard you.  I headed for your office as soon as I could.  Now what on earth is happening here?"

         Albus sighed briefly, but before he could answer her, Severus butted in, and not exactly in the most polite manner.

         "Albus, do you realize that if we didn't go there tonight, then he would most likely be dead?!"  He practically seethed out, while glaring daggers at the old wizard.

         Albus looks down in complete self-loathing.  How could he have been so stupid.  He should have realized Harry was being mistreated, with all the little hints that had been dropped here and there.  He should have looked more at the facts and realized Harry's mistreatment.  He should have never left Harry with those awful excuses for muggles.

         "I know I made a mistake putting him with those awful, awful people, but at the time, I thought it would be for the best.  They were his only living relatives at the time, well the only ones we were aware of.  He would be most protected there.  I never imagined that something to this extent was occurring.  Please forgive me Severus, if I had known I would have pulled him out of that house ages ago, if he had no where else to stay, he could have stayed with me, anywhere but that wretched place."

         Severus leaned back, settled for now, but Minerva looked increasingly suspicious.  "What exactly is going on here, who exactly are we talking about, and for Merlin's sake start from the beginning please."

         Remus looked over to the other two males in the room to see them lost in their own thoughts, so he went on to explain to Minerva all he knew.  She was surprised at finding out Harry's true parentage, and to say she was extremely furious when she found out the truth about the Dursleys was an understatement.  She stood up so fast that her chair fell backwards, with one graceful movement, she was standing in front of the headmaster with extreme anger radiating off of her physique.

         "I told you, I TOLD you that those people wouldn't treat him right.  The night you left him with the Dursleys, I repeatedly tried to convince you otherwise, saying that this was not the right thing to do.  I knew from the beginning that those people wouldn't treat Harry right, but you wouldn't listen, and thanks to that, Harry almost died, almost DIED tonight Albus!"  Slightly embarrassed, but not at all sorry for her outburst Minerva quickly picked up her chair and sat back down, looking intently at her hands in her lap.

         "You're perfectly right Minerva.  This entire predicament is my fault, I am extremely sorry for what my choices have caused.  I will do everything in my power to make sure Harry recovers completely from this ordeal.  If I had known this was happening, which I assure you I didn't,  then I would have immediately taken him out of their care."

         Minerva looks slightly abashed by her words earlier and quickly tries to apologize for them.  "I'm truly sorry, Headmaster, it was just a lot to take in, and I didn't mean to blame you at all, it's just that we should have realized it sooner, and Harry wouldn't have to endure what he is now.  I just feel so ashamed of myself that I wasn't there for him, I'm his Head of House, I should have realized something was going on at home, that's one of our jobs at being the Head of House."

         Albus shakes his head gravely, "no Minerva, you had every right in what you stated earlier, and not a single word of it was a lie.  It's entirely my fault that he was put through that, and I promise to do what ever is in my power to make sure he realizes that I didn't do it on purpose, and to realize that I regret it more than anything I have ever done."

         Looking over to the Headmaster, Severus realized that he was telling the complete truth, "Albus, it's not your fault.  If it's anyone's it's mine.  I should have realized Harry was my son, I should have taken responsibility for him, I should have been there for him, helping him, instead of continually putting him down."

         Before the Headmaster could continue, a light tapping was heard from outside the doors.  The Headmaster told them that they could come in while conjuring up another chair for their visitor to sit.

         Poppy came into the room, a sullen look exposed on her face.  "I'm afraid I have some bad news Headmaster, it's about Harry."

         Nodding gravely, the headmaster urged her to go on, the entire room deathly silent, waiting on the verdict of one of the most important person I'm many peoples lives.

         "Well first off, he's been intensely underfed, he's been starved for who knows how long.  Also, he has several broken ribs, not to mention the bones that had been mended, prior to my examination."  Here Poppy sent a glare at the three men, although not much meaning was put into it.  Slowly she went on, "he appears to have been beat repeatedly throughout the time he left Hogwarts, and from what I can see, he has scars from beatings earlier on.  He had some severe internal bleeding and injuries that I had to take care of immediately, although your potion helped immensely Severus."

         Here she paused, letting everything she had said sink in, the mood of the room extremely grave.

         "Is there anything else Poppy?"  Albus asked quietly.

         "I'm afraid there is.  He's exhausted, both mentally and physically.  He appears to be under some sort of strain, although I have no idea as to what.  He has many lacerations all over, not to mention all the bruises.  This will take time to heal, as you can only heal so much with magic at a time, and his more severe injuries needed attending to.  He should wake up within two days, if not he's most likely gone into a coma where his body will replenish his strength.  Hopefully this will not happen, yet if it does, there will be nothing to worry about…"  She drifted off as she saw the look on Severus's face, it appeared to be a mix of relief and horror.

         "What do you mean it's nothing to worry about Pomfrey?"  Severus croaks out, his mouth suddenly very dry.  "You mean to tell me that Harry might very well go into a coma and you say there's nothing to worry about?"

         Albus, interrupted quickly, before Severus said something that he would regret later, he explains that the coma would be temporary.  "Severus, the coma would only be temporary if Poppy is telling the truth.  It would be a magical coma that the body goes into automatically when both the mind and body of the person is extremely worn out.  It will only last so long, and Harry will have no threats whatsoever while in this coma, or to put it in other terms, a long sleep when he can replenish his strength."

         Severus looked down, slightly relieved but still intensely worried.  Poppy gave one more, weird look at the Potions Master before finalizing her report.

         "Yes, anyways as I was saying, he might go into a coma, which is not very likely, but if it does then he'll be asleep for a long time.  Also, whoever did this, was extremely hateful towards Harry, so hateful in fact that his wounds will take longer to heal.  In wizards, when another person, whether it's a Muggle or another wizard inflicts intentional pain onto another out of hatred, well the hatred sort of is imbedded within the wizard, and the body not only has to heal the injury itself, but also, it has to push out and purify the hatred festering inside the body.  Harry has been inflicted with so many injuries that's infested with hatred, it'll be a long time before he ever fully heals."

         Sighing quietly, Poppy continued on before anyone could say anything, "There is a strong chance that Harry has so much hatred inside him, it could destroy him from the inside.  There's nothing we can do except for wait and help him along in any way possible once he awakens.  The one thing we mustn't do is to force Harry to relive his memories, he can only talk about this when he is ready."

         A deathly quiet followed after the Medi-witch finished.  All the adults lost in their own thoughts didn't hear her go.  After several moments, Minerva got up to leave, knocking the other men out of their own thoughts.  

         Looking slightly surprised, Albus asked, "Where are you going Minerva?  I thought we could finish our little talk from earlier, to establish some things."

         Looking back, Minerva let a small smile slip, "Well, as long as Poppy's finished with Harry for the moment, I wish to see him.  I may not have shown it to him at all, but he's one of my favorite students just like his mother was, and I'm going to make up for that now, I'm going to show him that I truly do care.  From now on, I'm going to be there whenever he needs me, so if you gentlemen would allow it, I would like to start now."

         Without looking back, Minerva left the office quickly, and under a silent agreement, the other three left quickly after her, all headed in the direction of the hospital wing.


	5. Chapter 4: Waking Up and A New Arrival

_Previously:_

_Looking back, Minerva let a small smile slip, "Well, as long as Poppy's finished with Harry for the moment, I wish to see him.  I may not have shown it to him at all, but he's one of my favorite students just like his mother was, and I'm going to make up for that now, I'm going to show him that I truly do care.  From now on, I'm going to be there whenever he needs me, so if you gentlemen would allow it, I would like to start now."_

_         Without looking back, Minerva left the office quickly, and under a silent agreement, the other three left quickly after her, all headed in the direction of the hospital wing._

                Chapter 4 –  Waking Up and A New Arrival 

Entering the hospital wing, Minerva gasped at the sorrowful sight that met her eyes.  Harry lay peacefully, probably in a dreamless sleep, looking most innocent at the time.  His face seemed to be just bruises and cuts from something, all of his skin that showed seemed to be painted with different shades of purples, browns, greens, blues, and blacks.

         He moved slightly in his sleep which snapped Minerva out of her musings, she quickly moved over to one side of his bed and took one of his hands in hers.  Whispering soothing words to the small boy, she new that she would be there from that moment on.  She would do anything in her power to help him get through this, and also the troubles ahead.  When he found out about having a father, she would be there if he needed to talk, she'd be there if he needed anything at all.

         Silent tears started to stream down the usually strict professor's face, her anguish at allowing something like this to happen to this innocent young man apparent on her face.  She thought that if she had paid more attention to how he had acted maybe, just maybe she could have saved him from this pain.  As Minerva lost herself in her thoughts, she didn't realize that Albus, Remus and Severus had entered the hospital wing and were now seated around Harry's bed.

         Severus took the seat across from Harry and took his other hand into his.  He realized that this would be extremely difficult for the both of them.  But, he would do everything in his power from now on to make sure that Harry was happy, he would give everything to make sure Harry was safe, even if it meant giving up his own life.  

         He suddenly got this feeling in his chest, one he had only had once before, when he found out Harry was indeed his son.  It was now extremely stronger.  Severus finally identified it as pride, pride for Harry.  An emotion that he never would have thought he would have for anyone, let alone Harry Potter.  With the pride came love and with love came a happiness Severus had never imagined before.

         He would never allow Harry to go back to those awful muggles, Harry would have a home where someone loved him from now on, if Harry would have it that is.  Severus hoped with everything he had that his son would one day be happy without the burden of the world laying upon his shoulders as it did now, that Harry would one day be a normal teenager, that only had to worry about wild hormones and school work.  But deep down, Severus knew that Harry would never have an average adolescence, that Harry would always be singled out for what he had done, and for he will do.  Everyone knew that Harry would be a great wizard, he was already on his way to being one, and some people even speculated that he would be even stronger than Albus Dumbledore, the one who had defeated Grindewald in his prime.

         Looking back at his son, Severus realized that Harry would have a harder time with this than anyone, he would be ridiculed if it got out that 'the boy-who-lived' was actually a son of a death eater, he would be singled out not only as his feat of defeating the Dark Lord before he was able to walk, but because of his parentage.  At that moment, Severus fully realized the full consequences that this information would have on the wizarding world.  He realized that no matter what, this information could not get out until it was fully necessary or the Dark Lord was finally defeated.

         As Severus contemplated on his thoughts about his son, Remus was equally concerned about Harry's well being.  He considered Harry like a nephew that he never got the chance to know, he felt that it was mostly his fault Harry had gone through what he did because, he himself, Remus, had not been brave enough to go to Albus sooner.  He knew that Harry would most likely be mad with him about breaking his promise and telling two people, actually three people now.  Remus knew that he had to do it and it was for Harry's own good.  Even if Harry didn't realize it because he was mad at Remus, Remus would always be there to help protect him from the dangers of the world from now on, he wouldn't allow Harry to go into anything alone ever again.

         Harry would one day forgive Remus, even if it happened to be a while before it actually happened.  Remus would always care for Harry.  Ever since he saw Harry on that train, he had a deep feeling towards the boy.  It wasn't just because he looked like his father, but the boy had a certain innocence surrounding him, inside and out, he felt attracted to him like he was to no one else.  It wasn't in a romantic way it was just like he was attracted to his father, it might have been the werewolf in him, but Remus had always sensed something about both the Potters that attracted him to them…in more of a family way then he had ever felt towards his parents. 

         The final member of the room was also lost deep in thought, some of them similar to the others' thoughts, but others completely different.  He had already known the full extent of consequences Harry's parentage would bring up ever since he had first found out.  He would always be there for the boy like he had been in the past, most likely even more now, he looked at the boy as his adopted grandson, just like he looked at Severus as an adopted son.  He truly did regret what he had done while putting Harry into the Dursley's care.  At the time, he really did think it was for the best.  Now Albus knew the truth, he realized now the terrible mistake he had made.  But now it was too late.

         Albus, from now on, would look after Harry, he would be there more than in the past.  Merlin knew Harry had been through enough to last anyone a lifetime.  Albus knew that when Harry found out about his parentage, he would be happy, most likely shocked and angry at first, but once that wore off, he would be delighted to know he had family that actually cared for him.

         Sighing once more, Albus got up and headed for the door.  None one of the occupants realized he was gone until hours later when Minerva finally got out of her thoughts.  The others soon followed and all but Severus had left the ward, not wanting to spend a single moment away from Harry, thinking he might miss the time he would wake up.  Unknown to the three occupants of the room, Albus had left for only one reason - to get Harry's godfather here, to make sure Sirius Black was aware that his godson was safe and well, well as safe as he could be at the moment.

Albus only left some small details out.  He didn't think it was his place to tell Sirius about Harry's true parentage, he knew it was either Harry's or Severus's right to tell him, he also didn't think it was a good idea to tell Sirius about the situation with Harry via owl mail, he would wait until Sirius arrived.  Albus only hoped that Sirius wouldn't be too stubborn and allow his childish hate get in the way of his relationship with his godson.  Sirius meant so much to Harry, even though he didn't show it that often.  Albus could tell that Harry depended on Sirius to always be there for him, to always understand him when no one else did.  If Sirius was to back out on Harry now, who knows what could happen.

         As Poppy entered the Hospital wing, hours after everyone was supposed to leave, she was quite surprised to find Severus asleep in a chair next to Harry's bed.  He held one of the boy's hands in his while he slept.

         Poppy smiled softly to herself.  Maybe, just maybe the greasy bastard did have a heart somewhere under his icy exterior.  Looking back over to the boy, no young man, that was lying quietly on the bed, Poppy sighed.  He  just seemed to attract danger wherever he went.  Perhaps he never got a break, but whatever reason it was for, Poppy slightly appreciated it.  Harry, coming into the hospital wing so many times in his four, going on five, years, he seemed to have grown on to Poppy.

         Poppy may have seemed to be strict on her patients, even more so on Harry, but that was because she wanted to make sure they had a full recovery.  She did care for all her patients, but Harry, like his father, seemed to attach himself somehow to her heart.

         As she moved forward to check up on the boy, she accidentally bumped into a stand next to the bed, realizing a little too late that her wand was over on her desk, bottles of Pepper-up Potion and Strengthening Potion, among others dropped to the floor making an awful racket.  Muttering to herself, Poppy leaned down to pick the bottles up; luckily she had remembered to put unbreakable charms on the bottles when she first got them from the Potions Master.

         Standing back up, she looked over to her patient, who was still sleeping soundly.  As she moved her eyes over to Severus, she found herself looking into obsidian eyes, which held a hint of annoyance and amusement.  Yet his face stayed in it's cold mask, his mouth twisted in what appeared to be a smile, yet turned out to be a slightly less cold smirk.

         "Are we having trouble Poppy?"  

         "No, not really Severus, sorry to have bothered you.  Although I would like to have an explanation as to why _you _are here while everyone else left a few hours ago."

         Severus stayed silent before getting up quickly and stalking to the door, looking back at Harry one last time he swept out the door, not saying a word to the surprised witch.

         'Well, that was certainly rude of him!  I wonder what he was doing here in the first place…' Poppy wondered to herself as she quietly checked over Harry, who seemed to be having a peaceful sleep.

         After making sure he was in a comfortable position, Poppy returned to her office, maybe she would finally be able to get something to eat.

         Not ten minutes later, Poppy heard shuffling in one of the beds, getting up quickly she headed towards the bed where Harry lay, he seemed to have a troubled countenance, his eyes moving back and forth under his eyelids, he appeared to be having a nightmare.  

         Moving quickly, Poppy went over to the boys side, picking up a light blue colored potion off the stand as she went by, lifting up Harry's head she poured the entire bottle down his throat, it appeared to have worked because he settled down after a moment.  Looking down at the teen, Poppy silently thought to herself about how this teenager can attract so much trouble and yet live through it all.  

         Settling herself down in the chair Severus had occupied earlier, she got herself ready for a long night, and hopefully the boy would survive.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

         When morning arrived, and Albus walked into the Hospital Wing, he found Poppy sleeping in the chair, her head resting on the stand next to the bed; countless bottles of empty calmness potion bottles surrounded her head.

         Tearing his eyes away from the Medi-witch and looking over to the bed where Harry should be sleeping, he was quite surprised to find Harry sitting up and watching himself like a hawk.

         Slightly shaken at finding the boy up already, Albus settled himself into a chair on the opposite side of the bed where Poppy lay, Harry watching his every move. 

         Before anyone could say anything, Severus came bursting through the doors, another limp bundle in his arms, his face showing his concern.  Not realizing Harry was awake and Poppy was asleep, he quickly deposited the bundle on the bed, turning around he realized two pairs of eyes were on him, while another pair lazily looked around for a moment before fully waking up.

         "Poppy, you have another patient, I found him outside the Entrance Hall, he doesn't look to good."  He says quietly, his eyes never leaving Harry's.

         Poppy, mumbling to herself about this being her vacation, headed over to the bed, realizing who it was she gasps and quickly conjures up some curtains to go around the bed.

         Albus, looking slightly confused, gave Severus a questioning glance, in answer Severus just shook his head, plainly saying, 'not now, later.'

         The two professors looked down at Harry who still hadn't said a word, his eyes still following their every move, which was starting to become unnerving.

         Albus, deciding the silence had been long enough cleared his throat and began to speak, only to be cut off by Harry.

         "No."

         Looking confused at the boy, Severus spoke up for the second time, "no what?"

         "No, I will not speak about it."

         Understanding flashed across both men's face before Albus's took on a kindly appearance, while Severus's just turned to an emotionless state.

         "Harry, we need to know what happened, the truth so we can take appropriate steps later on."

         "There was a car accident, Ver-Uncle Vernon was driving me to London so I could get my school things, a tractor trailer came on and we had a head on collision."

         Looking slightly disappointed, the two men nodded their heads; realizing Harry didn't want to talk about it quite yet, although they were far from done speaking with him.

         Poppy came back out at the point, her face stricken.  She looked from Harry, to the professors, and back to Harry again.  Getting the point, Albus and Severus stood up and walked over to the other side of the room, with Poppy following silently behind them.

         Poppy, giving one last glance towards Harry to make sure he couldn't hear, only to find him staring unseeingly out the window, turned back to Severus and Albus.  

         "Well, Headmaster since you don't know yet, that lump of clothes is actually a student, more precisely, Draco Malfoy."

         At this, Albus looked over to the bed sharply, his blue eyes piercing as he went through all the possible reasons Draco would be there.

         "Before you jump to any conclusions Albus, he was in a state similar to Harry's, beaten, broken and fractured bones, some internal bleeding and other odd things.  Although, he appears to be having after affects from _Crucio_, actually, from what I can tell, it was rather a long period from which he was under the curse."

         Albus nodded his head, thousands of thoughts flashing through his old mind.  Looking back over to the area surrounded in curtains he stroked his long beard thoughtfully.  "When will Draco wake up Poppy?"

         "Honestly Albus, I have not the slightest idea.  It all depends on Draco, when and if he'll wake up, just like it did with Harry.  I don't know if you realize it Albus, but those two will have to get along this summer…I'm not letting either of them out of my sight until school starts again.  Those two will end up helping each other out, they will most likely end up becoming friends if they get past their grudges from earlier on."

         Both Severus and Albus nod their heads, acknowledging the possibility of the two enemies later becoming friends.  As Poppy goes over to check on Harry, who hadn't moved a bit from staring outside the window, Albus turns his thoughtful eyes on to Severus who was watching Poppy check on Harry.

         "When will you tell him Severus?"

         "Not any time soon, maybe in a week when he feels better.  I'll try and show him that I'm not just a greasy old git who doesn't care for anyone."

         Albus's twinkling eyes crinkled as he smiled, "yes, I believe that would be a good idea.  Although, you shouldn't wait too long to speak with him about this, also, I believe we are going to need more calming potions within this week."

         Severus looks confused for a second at Albus's abrupt change in conversation before asking, "why would we need those?"

         "It seems that Harry has needed them frequently throughout the night.  There were quite a few empty bottles surrounding the stand next to his bed."   

         "I see, wouldn't it be more convenient for him to have a dreamless sleep potion?"

         "Usually, that would be the best thing, but as you should know, Harry sometimes has dreams that show what Voldemort is up to.  If he were to have a dreamless sleep, then how would we be able to know if we missed anything important?"

         Severus glares at the floor tiles as Albus finishes, "I understand your logic Albus, but, Voldemort does some extreme and gruesome things most of the time…I wouldn't want anyone, let alone Harry, witnessing any of those things."

         "Yes, well I dare say you do have the last say in this don't you…" Albus once again gets a thoughtful expression.  "Of course, we could always give the decision to Harry, who I'm sure would make the right choice for himself."

         "I agree, although, when are we going to ask him.  He doesn't seem to happy at the moment, of course I understand the reason for that."

         Albus nods in agreement before heading back over to Harry, who had just been finished being checked on by Madame Pomfrey, Severus following right behind him.


	6. Chapter 5: Teacher's Meeting

_Previously:_

****_Albus nods in agreement before heading back over to Harry, who had just been finished being checked on by Madame Pomfrey, Severus following right behind him._****

                   Chapter 5 – Teacher's Meeting 

As the two men reached the bed, Harry looked up, his face holding slightly more emotions.  

         "I–I'm sorry about earlier Headmaster, I–I didn't mean to be rude."  He said, barley above a whisper, his eyes betraying the fear he felt.

         Albus looked down on the boy with sadness, he appeared to be lost in thought for a moment before he spoke up, his voice calm and gentle.  "It's quite alright Harry.  Would you like to speak about something, anything at all?  It could be about your favorite food, about Quidditch, or even about Ron or Hermione."

         Harry looks down quickly, trying to hide the fear and sadness that had taken over his features.  Starting quietly, he asked several questions, "Sir, how did I get here?  Who found me?  Why am I here?  What's going to happen?"  The last question, both Albus and Severus had to lean forward to hear.

         Looking thoughtful for a moment, he moved so he was seated next to Harry's bed, Severus quickly took the seat next to Albus.

         "Well to start with, three of the Professors here, myself included, went to go check up on you when we got a peculiar distress call.  Second, the people involved in finding you were Professor Lupin, Professor Snape and myself; we were all in my office discussing some matters when we received the distress call.  Thirdly, you are here for several reasons, all of which I'm sure you are well aware of, but the most important reason was you were in dire need of medical attention.  Finally, what will happen all depends on yourself, I will not force you to do anything that you do not want to, no matter what it is, well unless of course it will cause you more pain, but know this Harry, if you ever need anything, all the Professors here will be more than willing to help, in any way possible.  When I say all the professors Harry, I mean every single one of them," Albus says, glancing meaningfully towards Severus while watching Harry's reaction intently.

After a few moments, Harry looked up, he had silent tears flowing down his face, his lips moved but no sound came out.

         After a moment, both Professors could hear what he was saying, although it was barley a whisper.  "I'm so sorry, so, so sorry.  I'm sorry…" he kept repeating over and over to himself, after a moment, while still repeating that phrase over and over he curled his knees up to his chest and hugged them, silent tears all the while pouring down his cheeks.

         Albus face was extremely grave, his eyes holding no twinkle whatsoever.  Moving quickly and extremely gently, he gathered Harry into his arms, letting the child cry silently on his shoulder.

         As Albus gathered the crying boy into his arms, he looked over to Severus; the man had exactly no emotion showing on his face or in his eyes.  He stared at Harry for a moment before getting up quickly and stalking out the door, nearly knocking over Poppy as she entered carrying another tray with different potions on it.

         Albus just sat silently rocking the crying boy in his arms, saying soothing words every once in a while.  After about thirty minutes of this the boy's tears turned into small hiccups, which slowly turned to slow breathing.  Looking down, Albus realized the exhausted boy had cried himself to sleep.

         Getting up slowly, as to not wake Harry, and with surprising strength for someone so old, he gently sat Harry back onto his bed and covering him with the blankets.  Looking back down at Harry once more before he headed out in search for Severus, he realized Harry was already on his way to a full recovery, he only hoped Harry would allow everyone else help him get through everything.  

         As Albus walked out of the Infirmary, Poppy quickly went over to Harry, checking him over for any problems, insuring his safety, she did the same for Draco before setting down in a chair in between the two beds.  Picking up a magazine about different healing philosophies from a stand to be able to read while watching her two patients.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

         As Albus reached Severus's private chambers, he heard quite a racket coming from inside.  Listening for a moment, he decided to go in before Severus ended up hurting himself.  Knocking loudly, he promptly headed in, only to duck a flying vase.

         Coughing loudly, Albus watched in amusement a Severus swivels around quickly, setting down another vase in the process.

         "I see you haven't changed in letting out your anger Severus," he said amusedly.

         Severus glared at Albus before giving in and setting down in a chair with a large sigh, shaking his head.  "Yes, well it's been a very long time since I've been this upset."  
         Albus shook his head, waiting for Severus to continue.

         "It's just that, well, I wish I could have been there for him, I wish I could have stopped it all.  What if I had treated him better?  Would it have helped him?  What if I paid attention to all the signs?  Could I have stopped the abuse before it got out of hand?  Wha-"  Severus would most likely have continued on and on if it weren't for Albus cutting in.

         "Severus, you cannot focus on the past and all of the 'what ifs.'  It is indeed a very unfortunate thing that this has ever happened, although wallowing in the past will not help Harry right now.  He is going to need all the support he can get right now, and when you do tell him about yourself, well he'll need your support more than ever."

         Severus sat in silence for a while before nodding his acceptance to the Headmasters words.

         "Well that's good, since we have that all under control, I would like to have a meeting in my office in an hour, please be there."

         "Of course, although if I may ask, what's it for?"

         "Well, since you'll be telling Harry about his parentage, all of the other teachers have to know.  You cannot tell me otherwise so don't try Severus, they will most likely find out later, besides, I need to give them an update and to tell them about Harry."  Albus replied with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes before quickly heading out the door before Severus could ask anything else.

         Severus just shook his head at the old man.  No one understood how he could be serious one minute and back to his old self the next, of course he wasn't very happy about telling everyone else about being Harry's true father.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

         Albus sat quietly in his office awaiting the arrival of all the teachers, all except Hagrid that is, as he was away at the moment.  As the minutes passed, several of the teachers arrived, and after another ten minutes everyone was crammed into the office, all of whom were sitting in all of the chairs, all of them that is, except for Severus who was leaning against the corner hidden within the shadows.

         Looking over all of the faces located in the room, Albus distinguished several emotions, troubled expressions from Minerva and Remus while all of the others ranged for curious to concern and wariness.

         Coughing quietly, the entire room settled down and you could hear a pin drop.  Looking back to Severus, only to meet expressionless eyes, Albus looked back over across the room.

         "I've called this abrupt meeting for several reasons, one of which is to let you know that there are two students in the hospital wing."  

         Almost immediately all of the teachers who didn't know this were shooting out questions until Albus raised one hand for quiet.  It followed almost immediately afterwards.

         "Yes, I'm sure you all will have many questions, but I must ask you to not interrupt while I explain, and I insist that you keep any of your comments to yourself until the end, most of your questions will be answered by then anyways."

         The room nodded as one while Albus continued, "Yes, well, one of the students is a Mister Draco Malfoy."  Most of the room gasped at that, not expecting anything like this.

         "Mister Malfoy was found near the entrance hall by Severus, he brought the boy to the infirmary for Poppy to check over.  It appears he's been injured severely, we have no answers as to why it happened and how he got here.  We will have to wait until he awakens before we get any answers out of him and we, that is Poppy and myself, have no idea when that will be.

         "The other student, I'm sorry to say is actually Mister Harry Potter."

         As Albus finished that sentence, the entire room seemed to speak at once, all except the people who already knew, were outraged.

         "Please everyone, please calm down, I wish to finish explaining everything before another member joins us tonight," Albus says, slightly sternly.

         As everyone settles down once again, Albus continues, "yesterday evening while Remus and Severus were having a meeting with myself in this room, we received a rather intriguing call of distress.  We recognized it as Harry's voice, we had come to the conclusion earlier that Harry needed some help, although we couldn't find a good excuse to bring him here.  Of course the distress call gave us that excuse and we left immediately afterwards, briefly telling Minerva we would be going out, but not as to where.

         "When we arrived at the Dursleys, to put it lightly, we were completely disgusted."  He says, his voice becoming more and more grave as he continues.  "It appears not only have the Dursleys been mistreating Harry, but it's been going on for quite sometime, he was barely alive when we reached him, luckily we got him here in time.  Mister Potter was indeed awake earlier today, although he didn't say much at the time."

         The entire room sat in complete silence, some people for different reasons than others.  After a while (AN: can anyone give me Sprouts first name if Rowling ever mentioned it, if not can you let me know so I can make one??)  Professor Sprout spoke up timidly.

         "That boy seemed so polite, how could anything like this be going on at home?"

         Before Albus could say anything, Severus spoke up for the first time, surprising some of the people inside the room, forgetting he was even there.  

         "Not that you would know it Sprout, but those are some of the more obvious signs of child abuse."  He says dangerously quiet, before anyone could say anything else, Albus spoke up once again.

         "Yes, also, as all of you may know, Sirius Black had been sighted around here."

         The room went deadly silent, not only because of the abrupt change in conversation, but because of who the headmaster appeared to want to talk about.

         "Yes, anyways, I would like to tell you a story, please do not interrupt me until I'm done, and I ask you not to talk about what you hear here today with anyone else, anywhere unless you are absolutely certain you are alone and no one can overhear you."

         As everyone nods their agreement, Albus continues, "Well almost fifteen years ago, the Potters had to choose a secret keeper…"  He continued on for quite awhile explaining the truth.  He explained that at the last minute they had changed secret keepers and went to Peter, no one expecting the change and no one expecting the betrayal that would happen.  He went on after that to explain how Peter had run straight to his master, and sold his best friends to the Dark Lord.  

Everyone at this point gasped, but Albus continued as if nothing was wrong, he explained that after the fact, Sirius realized what Peter had done and had went to hunt him down and make him pay for what he did.  As Sirius cornered Peter in the Muggle street, Peter had set up Sirius and had himself blew up the street, staging his own death and escaping through the sewers in his illegal animagus form of a rat.  He then went and explained how Sirius was blamed for the deaths and betrayal and how he had later, with the help of his animagus form had escaped Azkaban and had came to Hogwarts to find Peter.

He finished with telling the other Professors how he had recognized Peter and how Harry had confronted Sirius in the Shrieking Shack.  Albus also explained the encounter with everyone and he told how Sirius had later escaped on Buckbeak, but leaving out the more dangerous details.  As he finished everyone, minus Remus who knew all of this beforehand, was deathly silent, unbelieving all of Sirius had to go through.

They all believed the Headmaster with no problem, although it was just hard to believe everything Sirius had to go through, especially since he was innocent.

Albus let everyone collect their thoughts before he started talking again.  "I know this is a lot to take in at once, but there is another thing that has to be said before Sirius arrives, and he must not be told about this, does everyone understand?"

Albus looked around the room, making eye contact with everyone.  He looked back at Severus, only to find him gone.  Albus sighs to himself, Severus had just made it harder for himself by running away from it, hopefully he could convince everyone without him there.

All of the teachers, except for Remus who already knew what was going to be said, looked at Albus wondering what he could possibly say that they couldn't tell Sirius.  

"We just found out recently that Harry has in fact, another living relative."  The room gasped as one with this information, finally Madame Hooch (AN: need another first name here please!) spoke up, voicing the question that was on everyone's mind.

"But, we searched everywhere and we found out that there are no living Potters or Evans left, except for those terrible Muggles anyways."

Albus nods his head in acknowledgment, "you are correct Madame Hooch in saying all of the Potters and Evans are dead."  

Here, everyone gave each other confused glances before looking back to the Headmaster looking for an explanation. 

"However, we have also recently found out Harry is indeed, not a Potter."

Silence fell after this statement for a few moments before several voices could be heard asking for an explanation.

"I'm telling the truth when I say Harry isn't a Potter by blood, but by every other right he is, I doubt anyone but a select few, not including James, knew Harry's true heritage.  It appears that Lily, knowing the truth about everything, put a charm on Harry to make him look like James until his fifteenth birthday where it would wear off completely, and she could explain it better, of course since she is no longer here, we have no way of finding out the exact reason as to why she did it.

"Anyways, as I was saying before, in a sense, James Potter adopted Harry without knowing it, it seems that he never knew the truth because only one of his friends knew the truth, and that was totally by accident that that had ever happened."

He paused here for a moment, letting everything sink in, he then continued in a deadly serious voice.  "I repeat once again that we never had any idea that what I'm about to tell you ever occurred.  I request you do not make any judgments until you hear the entire story and what is going to be done about it.  Do you all understand?"

Everyone nodded their heads immediately, wanting to know who Harry's true father is.


	7. Chapter 6: Padfoot Returns

_Previously:_

_         Everyone nodded their heads immediately, wanting to know who Harry's true father is._

**                            Chapter 6 – Padfoot Returns**

Albus takes a deep breath and then relates the story that was told to him the day before.  To put it mildly, everyone was shocked, they all sat in stunned silence for over ten minutes, trying to comprehend what Albus had just told everyone.

Finally, Minerva spoke up in a small voice, "What's going to happen Albus, you realize this complicates everything, not to mention putting a lot of people in danger."

Albus nods gravely, "I'm well aware of the difficult conclusions that are inevitable, yet, they cannot be changed.  I know this comes to a chock to you all, but consider this, Severus himself just found this out yesterday as well.  I ask just one thing from all of you, please give him some aid with Harry, also please give him patience.  I know he's not the most favorable teacher among the students, and so does he, but he's going to need all of the help he can get in the months to come, especially when he tells Harry and when school starts."

Minerva, among others nodded their head in acceptance while all of the others voiced out there agreements.  Albus then smiles, "well I'm certainly glad that's over.  If anyone would like to visit Harry, please feel free, although I ask you do not tell him anything about what was spoken about in here tonight, Severus is going to tell him when Harry feels better.  Also, do not force Harry to speak about anything that happened over the summer, he will speak on his own when he's ready, I'm sure of that.  

"On a happier note, whoever wants to see Sirius again and who would also like to speak with him, remain here as he should be arriving soon.  Those who wish to leave, they may also do that, but I must insist on not telling anyone about what we spoke of in here, especially to Sirius as he wont be to happy, not happy at all with any of the news."

Only a few of the teachers got up and left, the rest were either there to see or talk with Sirius.  The ones that had left either went to their private quarters or down to the infirmary to get the full diagnosis on either Harry or Draco.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

         An hour or so passed within the Headmaster's office, many of the teachers ended up leaving because they had things to plan for the upcoming school year and didn't have time to wait for Sirius to arrive.  The only teachers that were really left were Minerva, Remus, Madame Hooch and also Professor Vector.  (AN: I think this is the Arithmacy teacher…am I right??  If not can you please tell me who it is, and whether it's a male or female???  Thanx)

         As Professor Vector was about to leave, a big black dog came bounding into the room, but immediately froze when he saw the other professors.  If the circumstances were different it would have been comical to see the dog at the way it did, but Albus immediately calmed the…err…dog down by explaining all the teachers knew the truth to make it easier for Sirius to stay in the vicinity of the school easier.

         After being reassured, the dog 'popped' and where the dog once was, was now a man who seemed in the dire need of a shower and new clothes.  The teachers who hadn't seen Sirius at any time before gasped in the difference between the young man they once knew and they older man that stood in front of them.

         Feeling self conscious of himself, Sirius collapsed in a chair next to Remus, giving him a friendly smile as he went, which was returned immediately, although Sirius could see it didn't reach his eyes.

         Looking back over to the Headmaster, Sirius got straight to the point, "What's happened?  Is Harry alright?"

         Albus looked into Sirius's eyes for a moment before answering him, "I'm afraid to tell you Sirius, but earlier Harry wasn't in very good shape."  He held up a hand silencing Sirius before he could interrupt, "he's fine now, he's down in the infirmary sleeping peacefully."

         Sirius just sits there, not even seeing the sympathetic looks he was receiving from the other occupants from the room.  "How?"

         Albus starts with the explanation once again on how the got Harry, however, he left out all the information with Severus.  At the end, Sirius had his head in his hands, Remus had his hand on his shoulder giving him silent support.

         "I should have been there for him, he told me about how he used to live in a cupboard, I should have realized it then."

         "It's not your fault Sirius, no one could possibly know that the situation had become this serious, if we had then we would have taken him out of there right away."

         "I know Albus, but I just can't help it, I wish I was there for him, I'm so ashamed of myself.  I'm supposed to be his godfather, yet, I'm never there when he needs me, and I either come to early and leave or come to late and still leave."

         "Sirius Black!"

         Sirius looks up in surprise at his old Transfiguration Professor.

         "You cannot possibly blame yourself for things your obviously had no control over.  What Harry needs now is a lot of care and love from the people he cares about, now I don't know personally but I have the distinct feeling you two mean a lot to each other.  Harry needs your support right now so don't you dare start wallowing in self-pity when your godson needs you the most.  Be glad that you can be here for him now, be grateful that you have each other at all, this whole scenario could have come out much worse than it already has, be grateful for that!"

         Sirius sits there mulling over everything that had been said, he gives a small smile to Minerva which was returned just as small, before anything could be said, Sirius heads out the door, yelling as he went that he would be down in the infirmary with Harry.

         As the door slid closed behind him, Albus looked back to Minerva, the twinkle back in his eyes.  "I couldn't have put it better myself Minerva, thank you."

         Minerva nodded once before heading towards the door, "I'll be in my office if anyone needs me, good day Albus, everyone else."  She says as she heads out the door, nodding her head to everyone that was present.

         After she left, everyone else was quick to follow, all giving different reasons for leaving, until only Albus remained.  He looked over to Fawkes perch only to find Fawkes heading toward him.  He quickly held out his hand for the Phoenix to land on, which he did.

         "I hope I did the right thing tonight Fawkes."  He whispers half to himself, half to the bird.

         In return, Fawkes let out a quivering note which soothed Albus's troubled thoughts, smiling down gently at his companion, Albus stroked the Phoenix absentmindedly while thinking of the many different, difficult phases that would be approaching in the near future.

As Sirius reached the infirmary, he was surprised to see Harry.  He was staring out the window while Poppy was checking him over.  Cautiously, Sirius headed over to Harry's bed, being careful to avoid the bed surrounded by a curtain.

         As he reached the bed, Poppy turned towards him.  "You can stay for a little while Sirius, but no more than two hours, Harry needs his rest and I have another patient that needs to be taken into consideration."

         At the mention of Sirius' name, Harry turns towards the two adults.  Sirius nods his head absentmindedly while sitting down next to Harry.  Poppy just shakes her head, putting up curtains for their privacy and heading over to Draco's bed to check on him.

         Sirius and Harry just sit there in silence for several minutes, neither having any idea what to say.  Finally, getting sick of the silence, Sirius asks the one question Harry would be hearing quite a bit in the near future.

         "How are you doing Harry?"

         "Fine," Harry looks down as he answers, hiding tears that he knew would come.

         "Hey, I got your birthday present, well I can't actually give it to you, but I can tell you what it consists of."  Sirius says softly, trying to cheer Harry up.

         Harry looks up, his eyes gaining some of the life they were missing.   

         Grinning, Sirius explains, "well, since with everything that went on last year, Albus decided that I should be around more often, and with, well, this," he says making hand motions, spreading out in front of him showing he meant what happened with the Dursley's.  "I've decided I'm going to be staying in Hogwarts this year," he says happily.

         Harry, with his eyes the most liveliest they have been in a long time, smiles over to his Godfather.  "Really?  That's great, but what about the teachers and where are you staying?"

         "Well, I've just got here but apparently, Albus has told all of the staff about me being innocents.  As for where I'm staying, well, I'm going to be staying with you up in the boys dormitory.  I'm going to be your loveable, big black dog Snuffles!"  Sirius exclaims happily while watching Harry for his reaction.

         Harry just sits there in surprise for a moment before a big, true smile spread across his face.  "Really?  That's so cool, but there's one thing," he says troubled, "what about the rules, it doesn't say anywhere that dogs are allowed."

         Sirius looks crestfallen for a minute before standing up.  "Well, I don't exactly know what's going to happen, I'll go ask Albus.  Anyways, since I've been here for a long time, and Poppy will most likely be kicking me out any minute, I better go.  I hope you feel better soon Harry, and if you ever need anything, I'll be there for you."  Sirius says seriously before quickly hugging Harry.

         Harry stiffens considerable as Sirius' arms go around him and Sirius backs off extremely quick, a hurt expression clouding his features.  Before Harry could say anything Sirius leaves through the door, almost running into Albus and Severus who were entering.

         Harry looks down at his hands, his bangs hiding his face from view as the two Professor's go over to Harry's bed, taking seats on either side.

         "I didn't mean it, I couldn't help myself, he probably hates me now."  Harry says softly, almost to himself, yet unconsciously towards the two professors for some help.

         "What didn't you mean child?"  Albus asks softly, lifting up Harry's chin with two fingers.

         "I-he tried to hug me…I couldn't help myself.  It just brought back memories…I didn't mean to stiffen up."  Harry says softly, not looking at either of the professors.

         "Harry," Severus says softly, surprising the boy, who in his surprise looked over at the Potion Master, and was even more surprised to find compassion and care in his eyes, no amount of pity or sorrow written anywhere, which Harry was actually thankful for.

         "Harry," Severus says again, "Black will understand the reasons why you did what you did.  In fact, who ever you speak or interact with will have to learn how to understand your reasons for doing what you do.  It might take time for some of the people, but they will come around eventually, and eventually, you shall return to your normal self."

         Harry just sits there, mulling over all the words his Potions Professor just said to him while Severus kept a watchful eye on Harry.  Neither of them noticed Albus leave quietly, nor the fact that he shut the curtains behind him.  Both were lost in there own deep thoughts that neither noticed as the minutes passed.

         Harry knew that the person next to him had to be the hated Potions Master, and yet, he acted completely opposite of what he usually acted.  When Harry noticed the Headmaster and Snape come in, he was mentally preparing himself for some biting or witting remark from Snape, not helpful, and somewhat caring words.

         Severus also knew that what he had just done was no where near what he was expecting to say, he wasn't expecting himself to say a single word, he thought that was Albus' job, not his.  He knew that Harry must be somewhat confused, and yet, he got a weird, warm feeling in his chest when he realized he might have just helped his son out.  It wasn't exactly a bad feeling, or unnaturally pleasant, it was actually an in between feeling, which to be true with himself, he wouldn't mind having more often. 

         As Severus is lost in his own thoughts, Harry takes the moment to think over all of the things he knew about the Potions Master.  

         First, Professor Snape was, well for as long as Harry has known him, sarcastic and mean to everyone but his own students.  Second, Snape never gave Harry and chance and has always been mean to him, inside and out of the classroom.  

         Yet, at the end of the term last year, Harry remembered the Headmaster asking Snape to do something for him, which seemed to be somewhat frightening to Snape.  Harry knew he was missing something, something that put all of these things together, the 'missing link' as some people would put it.

         Glancing up, Harry realized that Severus was still standing, lost in his own thoughts, gazing absentmindedly towards the foot of the bed.  Snapping out of his musings, Harry, more out of habit than anything spoke up.

         "You can take a seat if you would like Professor," he says cautiously, watching for any thing that would give away any of the Professor's thoughts.

         Severus looks towards Harry in surprise, almost forgetting where he was, before slowly moving towards a chair near the head of the bed.  He looked over to the teen to see him with a somewhat of a confused look in his eyes.

         "Sir?"  It came out from Harry's mouth full of confusion and worry.

         "Yes, Po– Harry?"

         Harry gives a soft smile at the Potions Master obvious attempt at being civil.  "Can, can you tell me what's going to happen?"


	8. Chapter 7: The Infirmary and Sirius

_Previously:_

****_"Sir?"  It came out from Harry's mouth full of confusion and worry._

_         "Yes, Po– Harry?"_

         _Harry gives a soft smile at the Potions Master obvious attempt at being civil.  "Can, can you tell me what's going to happen?"_

    Chapter 7 – The Infirmary and Sirius (for lack of better title)

         Severus looks at Harry in shock, "why do you ask me when I know for a fact that Black just left?"

         Harry gains a slight blush on his cheeks as Snape asks him that question, one of which Severus doesn't miss, but chooses to overlook.  "Well…you see…umm…"  Harry growls slightly in frustration as he cannot get what he wants to say out.

         Severus smiles mentally as the boys obvious aggravation, waiting for him to say what it is he wants to say.

         With a sigh, Harry tries again, not noticing his professors amusement.  "Well, everyone else would most likely sugar coat everything and I want the truth.  I'm asking you because you're probably one of the only Professors here that will tell me most of the, if not all of the truth."  He says in a rush, hoping that Snape wont get mad at what he was saying.

         Severus sits in silence for a minute, trying to find the best way to tell Harry what he's asking to know.  Severus knew that he wouldn't lie o the teen, just as the boy already knew.  With a deep breath, he started to tell Harry what he knew in a soft voice, one that surprised Harry at first, but quickly turned his thoughts to what was being said.

         "Well, it mostly is up to you with what's going to happen.  You can either press charges, either to the Muggle law enforcements, or to the Ministry of Magic.  You could also, if you wanted, not say a word about it to anyone.  If you choose the first choice, then I suggest the Ministry because they are much stricter on child abuse.  If you choose the latter, then the other professors, myself included, and the Headmaster will figure something out so you never have to return to the Muggles ever again.  You would most likely stay here at Hogwarts, most of the teachers stay here over the summer, sometimes leaving for a little while, but there are at least two or more Professors here at one time."

         Harry listens intently to what is being said, he didn't really want to go to the Ministry or to the Muggle police…he knew that the press would get a hold of it somehow and then everyone would know, which was something Harry wanted to avoid at all costs.

         "If I stayed at Hogwarts, what would you tell everyone?"

         "I don't know, the Headmaster will most likely come up with a story believable enough for you to stay.  It wont be to hard mind you, especially with Voldemort coming back into power."

         Harry jumps slightly as he hears Snape calling Voldemort by his true name, but just shrugs it off.  His questions answered for now, Harry motions to behind the teacher, in the direction of the other bed.

         "Who did you bring in here earlier Professor?"

         Severus considers if he should tell him about Draco or not.  He knew that the 'old git' of a Potions Master wouldn't say a thing, yet he wouldn't be sitting here with Harry either.  Severus wanted to show Harry the real him under his icy exterior before he told him the truth, so he decided on telling him the truth.

         "Well, not a day after we got you here and stabilized, I found a certain teen on the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest.  He was in much of the same condition as you were, only some magical curses were involved.  He still hasn't awakened yet, Pop–err Madame Pomfrey said that he may go into a small coma like sleep until he's able to wake up.  In fact, you were very close to going into a coma also."

         Harry looks surprised at these pieces of information, he'd almost gone into a coma? 

         "Who is it Professor?"

         Severus looks over at  Harry, as if sizing him up, although he's really seeing if he should tell Harry who it is.

         "Draco Malfoy."

         Harry gasps with this information, why would Malfoy, of all people be at Hogwarts?  Why wasn't he at St. Mungo's or something, Harry was sure that they could afford it, unless he ran away from home, or from something else.  

         These thoughts kept chasing each other through Harry's mind, which apparently showed upon his face or something as Snape answered some of the questions.

         "The other Professors and myself still have no idea as to why he's here.  We don't know what his reason for coming to Hogwarts is, especially when he came through the forest.  Since we don't know if he's running from something, or if someone put him there, we aren't informing his parents until he wakes up and tells us his reasons."

          Harry sits in silence for a minute, trying to absorb all of the information he's received in the past hour or so.  Not only has he learned what the Professor has said, but he also learned that his Potion's Professor could actually good company when he wanted to.

         Harry smiles slightly to himself with this thought, something that Severus notices and wonders what the boy is thinking. 

         As Severus watches the boy, he can see the weariness starting to show in his eyes, he mentally smiles to himself as he sees Harry trying to fight back a yawn, but it escapes anyways.

         Severus realizes Harry better get some sleep soon, either that or Poppy would yell his head off for keeping him up.  "Well Harry, as you've just shown me, you are in dire need of some sleep."

         Severus smirks to himself as he sees the blush creep across Harry's face as he realizes he pretty much just made a fool of himself in front of the puzzling Professor.

         "Would you like some dreamless sleep potion?"

         "Yes please," Harry says, trying to stifle another yawn before it could come out.

         Severus gets up and walks over to the stand filled with all of the Potions Poppy had brought in earlier.  Severus slightly smiled as he remembered when Poppy had made all of the crystalline bottles fall earlier.  Picking up on of the bottles on the right side, where she usually kept the dreamless sleep potions, Severus once again moved over to Harry's bed and handed the bottle to Harry.

         "Thank you, Sir."  Harry says before drinking the bottle with one quick gulp.  As he noticed Severus getting up to leave, Harry managed to whisper a little request, one of which would have surprised him if he'd been fully conscious.

         "Could you stay for a little while Professor?  Please?"

         As Severus walked towards the door, figuring Harry wouldn't want him there any longer, he was quite surprised when he heard Harry's soft request.  Turning around, he saw that Harry was pretty much asleep, but figuring he hadn't misheard, Severus walked back over to the bed, picking up one of Harry's hands in his own and getting comfortable in the chair for a long night.

As Harry fell deeper and deeper into unconsciousness, he felt someone sit down in the chair next to his bed, taking one of Harry's hands into it's own, softly caressing it.

Finally dropping into the darkness, Harry smiles softly.  

If Harry wasn't as tired as he was, he would have realized that the potion given to him had a slightly different taste to it, he would have also realized that the potion actually had no effect on him but to calm him some more than he already was, and it was his body's exhaustion that put him into a deep sleep, not the potion.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

As Albus left the infirmary, he realized Sirius was most likely looking for himself.  Looking once more back at the door, hoping that the two will be alright together, Albus heads off in the direction of his office lost in thought.

As he nears the gargoyle, he realizes that there's already a person in his office waiting for him.  Walking a little bit more quickly, he says the passwords, walks through the passageway and up the staircase, into his office to find none other than Sirius himself.

"Sirius, what a pleasant surprise.  What can I do for you?  Would you like a cup of tea?  Or how about some skittles?"  Albus says cheerfully as he sits down behind his desk.

Sirius looks stunned for a minute before hastily replying, "I would like some tea, yes, but no thank you on the skittles."

Albus nods his head in acknowledgement as he waves his wand and two cups of tea appear.  "So, what can I do for you?"

"Well, you know how I was planning on being Harry's loveable pet dog when school started back up?"

Albus nods, allowing Sirius to continue.

"What about the rule with the kids' pets?  It doesn't say anywhere that dogs are allowed."

Albus looks thoughtful for a moment, mindlessly chewing on some skittles.  After a few moments of silence, Albus looks over at Sirius, a twinkle in his eyes.  "Well, we could always change he rule around, although that will look a little like favoritism to some of the students wont it?  Well, we could also say that you were a stray found outside of Hogwarts, and since you hung around and with Harry being here, you decided to stay.  You will become a pet of all of the Professors while you prefer to be with Harry since you've seen him the most over the summer.  How does that sound?"

Sirius nods his head enthusiastically before asking another question, slightly serious and slightly in jest.  "When you say I belong to the Professors, does that include _all_ of the Professors?"  He says with an emphasis on 'all'.

Albus looks to Sirius while laughing silently to himself.  "Yes Sirius, I'm afraid you will also belong to our dearest Potions Master."

Sirius looks at Albus incredulously, but before he can say anything, Albus starts speaking again, slightly more seriously this time.

"I know that you two don't get along very well, (Sirius snorts slightly to himself) but I need you to at least give Severus a chance.  He's doing the Order and everyone else a great favor with his spying, not only that, but I have a feeling that everyone will have to trust each other in the future, whether it's for the cause of the light, or for other reasons."  Albus says mysteriously, his twinkling eyes back in full force.

Sirius just looks at him, trying to figure out what the headmaster means this time, since whatever he says, no matter what it's about always seemed to have a double meaning.  Figuring he wouldn't be finding out what he means any time soon, Sirius nods his head, showing he'll give it a try.

Albus smiles widely as Sirius starts to get up to leave after he nods his head in recognition of Albus's words.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow Albus, good night."    

"Good night to you to Sirius, and before you go, let me give you a piece of advice."  

Sirius stops next to the door, wondering what Albus could possibly be talking about now.

"A man once told me, that in order for someone to accept another, he himself must understand the other person in return."

As Sirius leaves the office, he thinks upon the words that Albus had spoken, he had a feeling that he was talking about Harry, and how Sirius would first have to find out more about Harry before Harry could accept him back as a godfather type figure, where he could give hugs and shoulder squeezes when necessary.

         As Severus caressed Harry's hand, he got lost in his thoughts about the future and what would happen to both, Draco and Harry, Harry being his own flesh and blood and then Draco, one of his favorite and best students.  He had a couple of thoughts as to why Draco was there but he couldn't do anything about it until Draco woke up.

         Severus was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard a distraught moan come from Harry, but, he could of sworn he just gave Harry a Sleeping Drought…looking over to the counter, Severus swore.

         Where a bottle with a light blue residue should have been, was a bottle with a clear residue…Severus had given Harry a calming potion instead of a Sleeping Drought.

         Trying quickly to wake Harry up before he had a bad nightmare, Severus realized it was too late, Harry had already begun to toss and turn with the horrors of his dreams.  Getting up quickly, Severus went to the door to get Poppy, sure he was a Potions Master, but he had no idea how to wake up Harry in his situation.  As he reached the door, he was stopped by a strangled cry coming from Harry's bed, as he turned around he found Harry to be sitting up with his eyes wide, darting around the room looking for an unseen threat.

         Walking slowly back to the bed, as to not frighten Harry, Severus sat back down in the seat he had occupied only seconds before.  Reaching his hand to get Harry's once again was snatched back quickly as Harry whimpered with the contact.

         "Shh…Harry, it's alright, no one here is going to hurt you, I'm here to help you…"  Severus whispered softly, trying to coax Harry to realize where he was and that he was entirely safe.

         Harry blinked a couple of time until the man's words sunk in, slowly he turned to his Professor, waiting to see annoyance and disgust towards himself from acting the way he was, so, of course Harry was shocked speechless by the genuine concern on Severus's face.  Harry just sat there and stared, trying to take in all he could, it was the first time anyone had ever looked at him like that, sure the has looked at with concern from his friends and Sirius, but never with as much force as the Teacher next to him was.

         Snapping out of it, Harry finally got enough courage to ask the question that had been nagging him for a long time…

         "P-Professor, you, I mean, I, umm….no, I mean, ha-have you noticed any change in my appearance?"

         Severus, just sat there in silence for what seem forever, he had never expected that question to come from Harry at that point, especially since he had just woken up from some type of nightmare.

         Clearing his throat, trying to keep his voice steady, he replied, "Harry, I," he moistens his lips to try again.  "I have noticed your change, why do you ask?"

         Harry just sat there stunned, not only that Snape had answered him, but that he had totally evaded the question that Harry had left unsaid that anyone could have spotted.  Shaking out of his revere, Harry simply shakes his head, "never mind."

         Mentally, Severus sighted, thanking any god out there Harry had not pursued his train of thought, and Severus knew that he wouldn't have been able to deny Harry the truth any longer if Harry had kept asking.

         Without knowing it, Severus had taken Harry's hand into his again when they lapsed into silence once again.  By the time Severus snapped out of it, to apologize to Harry about giving him the wrong potion, Severus was quite surprised to find the teen sleeping with a small smile on his face.

         Sighing a real sigh, Severus slowly got up and releasing Harry' hand unconsciously, walked towards the door, but decided against it and headed for Draco's bed.  Silently, Severus pulled the curtains back and sat in the chair next to the head of the bed and took Draco's hand into his own.


	9. Chapter 8: The Dragon Awakens

_Previously:_

_Sighing a real sigh, Severus slowly got up and releasing Harry' hand unconsciously, walked towards the door, but decided against it and headed for Draco's bed.  Silently, Severus pulled the curtains back and sat in the chair next to the head of the bed and took Draco's hand into his own._****

**                  Chapter 8 – The Dragon Awakens**

"Draco, I know you probably won't here this, but I hope you awaken soon.  I don't know if you remember when you told me about Harry and how you truly felt, but if its any consolation, he was worried about you when I told him how I found you on the outskirts of the forest.  I found out some huge news that I won't repeat here, but once you wake up and I tell Him about it, well then I'll tell you, if its okay with Harry of course.  I truly hope that what ever has happened to you wont really effect you, your one of the smarter students in my class and I don't want to loose you because then I will really have nothing but idiots in class."

         Severus kept on talking about anything and everything he could think of, trying to coax Draco out of the sleep he was in, Severus basically knew it was pretty much useless because only the witch or wizard could bring themselves out of the type of coma he is in by themselves when they were ready.  

         So, of course Severus was surprised once again when he felt a slight pressure in his hands coming from Draco.

         "Will you shut up already!" was the only reply he got when he looked up to see Draco's smiling, stormy gray eyes.  "You're bloody annoying when you never shut up Sev, you do realize that don't you?"

         "Draco!  You're awake, but how…I mean you weren't supposed to wake up until later I thought, Poppy said that you were deep in a coma…what happened?"

         "I already told you, your annoying voice woke me up, of course, if you want me to go back to sleep, I will happily oblige as to I'm dead tired right now."  To prove his point, Draco let loose a large yawn.

         Severus just sits there stunned for a moment before he smiles slightly, "you do realize that once you're better you're going to pay for how you just spoke to me don't you?"

         Draco just nods absentmindedly while trying to look around his curtains to the other bed.  "Is he really there Sev?"

         Severus smiles at the pure innocence shining in Draco's eyes as he tried to see the sleeping boy in the bed a little ways away.  "He is, although he's sleeping right now, which you should be doing to because Poppy will have my hide if she finds out I was keeping you awake right after you have woken up…just let me give you a couple of Potions to make sure you'll wake up tomorrow morning."

         Draco nodded with a disgusted look on his face.

         "Don't give me that look Draco…you have to drink them or you wont heal properly."

         "Its not that I don't want to drink them Severus, it's just that they're probably going to taste horrible."

         "Well, if you added some type of sweetener to any potion, it usually destroys it, you should know that Draco."

         "I do, it's just that, well, I don't think I can get them down right now…that's all."

         Severus looks piercingly towards the blonde haired boy who had lowered his head, watching his hands make little patterns on the sheet.  "Well, if you don't think you can stomach them, I guess I can just put you under a charm, but just for this one night because you could get addicted to the charm alright?"

         Draco looks up and smiles slightly at his teacher and only friend, "thanks Sev!"

         Severus just shakes his head while taking out his wand and muttering something under his breathe, Draco was asleep moments later when it took effect.  Severus shut the curtains once again behind him as he headed towards the door, turning once to look back at both of the beds before heading out the door towards his own chambers to get some much needed rest.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

         The next morning, Poppy walked into the room to find Draco sitting up on his bed, the curtains drawn aside, looking over towards the other bed with a curious look.

         Clearing her throat, Poppy walked briskly over to Draco, "Well Mr. Malfoy, it's certainly a surprise to finally find your awake, how are you feeling?"  
         "Fine," He replies absentmindedly while still staring towards the other bed.

         "Could you define 'fine' for me?"

         "Hmm?  Oh, umm, yes, sorry.  I have stomach ache, my head kills…oh yeah, and I think a couple of my ribs are broken."  He says while turning so he  was facing the medi-witch.

         "I see, well I fixed you up as good as I could, I'm afraid you're going to have to put up with the ribs for a while, I have a potion for your stomach if you would like it."

         "NO!  I mean, no…I don't want any potions, please."

         If Poppy wasn't surprised by Draco's little outburst, she certainly was surprised when he asked politely, nodding her head she walks towards her office to call Severus and Albus down to tell them that Draco had awaken.

         "Madame Pomfrey?"

         "Yes dear?"

         "Professor Snape knows that I'm awake…he was here last night and he gave me a charm so that I could sleep until you came in here this morning."

         Poppy looks up startled.  "He what?"

         Draco just blinks a few times wondering what could be wrong.  "I said, he was here last night and he gave me a sleeping charm so that I could go to sleep."

         "Oh dear…do you remember what charm it was?"

         "No, sorry ma'am."

         "It's fine dear, I'll just call him down, try not to make any noise, and I still have one sleeping patient here ."  Poppy says as she heads into her office, a troubled expression taking over her features.

         Draco just sits back, trying to figure out what could be wrong.  He knew that Severus wouldn't have done anything that could put him into any type of danger, so why is she so worried.  Pushing those thoughts aside, Draco goes back to his train of thought he was occupied in before the Medi-witch had interrupted him.  It concerned a certain green-eyed boy, not ten feet from Draco, sleeping peacefully.

         'I don't know how I can even start to approach him, let alone say sorry and hope to become friends, or more.  He probably hates me, after all, he's the one that denied my friendship after I asked him.'

         'But, then again, I had insulted Weasley, and throughout our four years here, I continuously berated him and his friends.'

         'There's no way in Hell he'll ever forgive me, he'll probably think I'm putting on some sort of act to hurt him even more.'

         'But, I have to prove to him that I only acted that way because of my fa–no, he doesn't deserve that title,  because of Lucius.  Lucius forced me to act that way, but not anymore, I'm no longer under his con–.'

         Draco's thoughts were abruptly stopped once again, but by a different source this time.  Draco blinked out of his thoughts, only to find the object of his thoughts staring at him from the other bed, a closed expression in his eyes.

         They stare at each other for a few moments before Draco looks away, his hands playing with a loose string from the blanket.

         Harry keeps staring at Draco, but his face now holds a thoughtful expression.

         Before either of the boys could say anything to stop the awkward silence, Sirius bounds into the room before stopping dead, staring openly at Draco, looking like a rabbit in a cars headlights.

         Draco looks slightly amused by this for some reason, one that neither Harry, nor, Sirius can explain.  

         "Sirius Black I presume?"  Draco mutters at last, finally breaking the silence.

         "Err, yeah, and you must be Draco Malfoy, Harry's told me all about you."  Sirius replies darkly, remembering how this boy had caused Harry a lot of trouble throughout Hogwarts so far.

         Draco looks down, seemingly abashed, but looks up before anything else could be said.  "I acted that way because of my father," he spat.  "I never wanted to act and do anything that I did, but my father was watching my every move, how the hell was I supposed to act any different when I had two oafs following me around like surveillance cameras?"

         Before Sirius could retaliate, Harry jumped in. "What do you mean your father was forcing you to act the way you did?"  His face sincerely curious.

         Draco looks towards Harry, his icy exterior falling from his eyes for once and Harry saw the fear and loneliness in his eyes which gave him a feeling of extreme protectiveness towards the blonde.  Of course, Harry was extremely confused by this because he thought he'd hated Malfoy, didn't he?

         "Lucius had–has many ways of forcing people to obey him Potter, none of them pleasant I assure you.  I don't know how the hell I got here, but what ever it was, I'm truly grateful for it."

         "That, Mr. Malfoy is what I was going to ask you, but seeing as how you don't know, I'm apparently at a loss as to what to do."

         All three occupants look up in surprise to see Albus and Severus standing in the doorway, no one had noticed either of the two men come in since they were listening intently to Draco.

         "Headmaster, Professor."  Draco acknowledges while nodding his head in their direction.

         "Mr. Malfoy, we have quite a few questions to ask you if you don't mind."  Severus says while taking a chair in between the two beds, which didn't go unnoticed by any of the people in the room.

         "I'll answer them if I feel comfortable with it."

         "As you wish."

         Draco sighs mentally to himself, knowing he would have to tell at least the headmaster and Sev about his father, and that he would eventually tell Harry and then Harry in return would tell his godfather, so he knew it would be better to tell all of them in the room all at once instead of having to repeat it some other time.

         While Draco was in his thoughts, everyone took a seat, Sirius on the foot of Harry's bed, careful not to touch him, and Albus taking a seat in between Harry's and Draco's bed near the end.

         "I might as well start at the beginning, ever since I can remember Lucius has told me that I had to follow the Dark Lord, that it was the right thing to do.  In the beginning I believed him, I mean after all, whose father would lie to their own son?  Anyways, I started to questions him when the Chamber of Secrets was open but I kept it to myself, knowing I would be punished if he ever found out.  Anyways he somehow found out that I wasn't too positive about joining Voldemort so he decided he would beat it into me."  Draco said spitefully.  Everyone else in the room hanging onto every word.

         Draco sighs to himself before continuing.  "Anyways, it was just little things here and there at first, a slap here, a kick there, but nothing as bad as what happened this summer.  When Potter came back from the Graveyard, and yes I know what happened, my father told me when I returned home about the return of the Dark Lord.  Anyways, I knew something was wrong, and my worse fears were acknowledged at the feast.  Voldemort had returned, and I would be forced to serve him.  I tried to pretend for my father that I was ecstatic that he had returned, my father seemed to buy it, but I was clearly mistaken.

         "He brought me to one of the Death Eater meetings and forced me to torture some muggles, at first I refused but then I saw that Lucius was testing me and the only way out I had was to comply.  That night my father gave me my worse beating as of that point, saying that he knew all along that I was a mudblood loving fool.  I tried to defend myself but nothing I said or did worked.

         "He left me to myself for a few days, tending to my own injuries with the help of the house elves once in a while.  But, another meeting was approaching, and this time Voldemort would be there.

         "I was once again forced to go, but this time He saw through my disguise and ordered Lucius to take me away.  You can say that Lucius was furious and humiliated that his own son was accused of treachery to the Dark Lord, but that would be an understatement."

         Draco took a moment letting his audience to absorb what he had said before starting again.  "He brought me home shoved me in the dungeons and basically tortured me.  I blacked out after a little while but I knew he had to have waked me up because I can vaguely remember some stuff.  Anyways I have no idea what happened after that, the only thing I remember is waking up here with Professor Snape next to me."

         Albus nods his head somberly.  "Thank you Mr. Malfoy for explaining everything.  I must say that not many people can talk like you have within the last hour or so.  I'm truly sorry about what has happened but, myself and the other Professors will do our best to ensure that you never go back to the Malfoy Manor."

         Draco lets a sigh of relief pass through his lips that he had not noticed he was holding.  He smiles a genuine smile towards the Headmaster, "thank you sir, you don't know how much that means to me."

         "It's quite alright my boy, but now I'm afraid I must leave, I have to go take care of some things.  If either of you," at this he looks at both Harry and Draco, "need anything I think both of you know where to find me or another Professor.  I'll leave you all now, good day."  He says while getting up and leaving out through the door.

         Sirius looks stunned when the information he had just received had sunk in, while Harry just had a look of compassion.  Draco just looked over to them with a closed expression once again while Severus just sat in his own thoughts.

         "So it's true then, Black is actually innocent?"  Draco says, more to Harry then to Sirius.

         Harry looks up startled for a second before nodding.  "Yes, but, how did you know?"

         Draco just shrugs, "I heard Lucius talking to someone named Peter Pettigrew through the fire a while ago and did some research, I then figured out who he was and the significance of how he was alive."

         Harry nods his head accepting that explanation while turning his head towards his godfather.

         "So did you ask Dumbledore–"

         "That's Professor Dumbledore Harry."  Sirius interrupts.

         "Yeah, but did you ask him about the rules?"

         At this, Draco looks up interested.

         "I did, and he says that I'm a dog that wandered into the grounds, and the Professors decided to keep me around.  I'm now Snuffles, the dog of the Hogwarts professors from now on, and since you stayed here at Hogwarts throughout the summer for reasons unknown, Snuffles has taken a liking to you and sleeps in the boys dormitory."  Sirius says all this while keeping a perfectly straight face while Severus and Draco roll their eyes at his antics of cheering up the mood.

         Draco looks thoughtful for a minute, then decides I wouldn't hurt at all, "Hey, does that mean you're an animagus and what about me.  If I'm going to be here this summer like Ha–err Potter, then I want to have a pet dog too."  He says slightly teasingly and slightly seriously.

         Sirius and Harry both look stunned for a moment, not only at the new Draco that seems to be in front of them, but of the air of companionship coming from everyone in the room, including Severus who was still lost in thought, not taking any notice of those near him.

         Smiling brightly Harry shakes his head, "yes, I think that would be fair, after all, we can't just leave Dr–Malfoy alone this summer can we…well that is, after we get out of these blasted beds."

         A muffled, 'hey, I heard that came from Poppy's office so Sirius and Severus, who had snapped out of his thoughts at Draco's name, decided that they should leave before Poppy kicked them out.

         A chorus of goodbye's was said between everyone, even Severus to the surprise of both Harry and Sirius.  When they had completely gone, and Poppy had come back in looking like her old self to check on both the boys, Harry and Draco laid down in silence.

         "Hey Malfoy?"

         "Yes?"

         "Were you really putting on an act throughout the years?"

         "Yes, why?"

         "Just wondering."

         "Oh, Hey Potter?"

         "Yeah?"

         "My name's Draco."

         "Mine's Harry."

         "Nice to meet you Harry."

         "You to Draco."

         With that, both boys fell into a deep dreamless sleep, both with content smiles on their faces.

AN: please read the authors note after this, its really really important!


	10. Chapter 9: Who Am I?

_Previously:_

_"My name's Draco."_

_         "Mine's Harry."_

_         "Nice to meet you Harry."_

_         "You to Draco."_

         With that, both boys fell into a deep dreamless sleep, both with content smiles on their faces.

                                Chapter 9 – Who am I? 

         Severus Snape was fairly surprised to walk into the Hospital Ward to find both of his students in a somewhat civil conversation, considering they used to be enemies.

         "I _told_ you Draco, Hermione is _not_ a know-it-all.  She's nice and one of the loyalists friends you can get, not to mention she's smart, not a know-it-all."

         "Well, Potter, if Granger isn't a know-it-all, then how can she be smart?"

         Harry just growls out in frustration, not noticing the small smile on Draco's lips.

         "See, I told you, anyways, how are you going to defend Weasley?  He turned your back on you the first chance he got."

         Harry looks uncertain for a second before answering, "well, he, I, he had a good reason, well actually he didn't, but he's still a good friend!"

         Draco just watches Harry as he tries to find an answer to what Draco had asked, Draco felt sorry for bringing it up, but he knew it was for his own good, after all, everyone besides Harry knew that something was up with Ron.

         "Look, Harry, I'm sorry I brought that up, I didn't mean to sound so harsh."

         Harry nods, "yeah, I know you did, it just still hurts to know that your best friend could turn on you with a blink of an eye like he did."

         Draco makes an agreeing sound before asking, "how did we get into this argument again?"

         Harry grins slightly, "you said something about how all muggle-borns are stupid, I said that they were not and to take Herm for an example, then you called her a know-it-all, and you can take it from there.  Besides, you shouldn't be talking about Herm, I mean, look at those to oafs that follow you around, do they have a single brain between the two of them or do they just follow your bidding?"

         When Harry finish speaking, silence reigned over the room, Harry hoping he hadn't gone to far to jeopardize his new found friendship, Draco trying to figure out whether to be amused or enraged, and Severus was just trying to digest the information that they were friends.

         So everyone was quite surprised to hear each other laughing, none more surprised to see Snape in the doorway.

         "Prof-Professor!  I didn't see you there!"

         "No, I can see you didn't Potter, how are you two feeling?"  Severus asks, allowing a small portion of his hidden worry shine through in his voice.

         Harry, who was quite surprised by his Potions professor once again because of his worry, allowed Draco to answer.

         "Well S-Professor," he drawled, almost slipping with his name.  "I feel just chipper this morning, I mean after all, who wouldn't after having a refreshing sparring match of words with the worst enemy?"

         Both Harry and Draco burst into small giggle from the pure surprise and astonishment on Severus's face, that of which was quickly wiped away to be taken over by his usual sneer.

         "Hmmm, it seems your tongue hasn't taken any damage through this ordeal has it Draco.  Now, Mr. Potter," he says, mentally shuddering from saying that name while addressing his son, "if you would be so kind, would you answer my first question?  Hopefully without the sarcasm as Mr. Malfoy answered with?"

         This was answered with more giggles coming from both parties so Severus just gave up, taking a seat in-between the two teens waiting for them to calm down…which of course took forever because each time they would start to calm down, one would glance to Severus before glancing at each other and burst out laughing again.  No one noticed Albus come in and smile gently at the scene before going back out.

         All of a sudden Harry tries to stop laughing while holding his stomach.  "Umm, Professor?"

         "What Potter?" a gruff voice could be heard coming from the Potions Master.

         Harry looks slightly embarrassed for a moment before speaking, "Umm, where's the bathroom?"

         With that said, Severus looks up abruptly at Harry, thinking something was wrong, but was relieved to see nothing wrong.  "Why are you asking me this Potter?  You've been in here enough to know where the bathroom is haven't you?"

         Harry just shakes his head in a negative manner, "sorry sir, but I have no idea where the bathroom is, otherwise I wouldn't have asked.  Now, if it's not to much of a problem, could you please show me where it is?"

         Severus gives a slight sigh before motioning to a door that was partially hidden by one of the bed's curtain.  "It's over there, make sure you don't do something stupid or Madame Pomfrey will be furious with me."

         Harry nods his head and smile appreciatively before heading over to the door, slightly leaning on he beds as he goes.

         Sighing, Severus turns towards Draco with a questioning glance.

         Draco looks back towards him with an amused yet serious glance.

         "What, may I ask, was that all about Dragon?"

         Draco smiles slightly before answering, "well, last night after you left, me and Harry spoke for a minute, he asked me if how I really acted was because of my father or not, I answered him and then we sorts re-introduced ourselves.  I have no idea what brought it on but, I am grateful, we may have a rough start, but I think we are becoming friends.  Anyways, this morning, as you heard, we got into a little verbal sparring match, but it wasn't like it used to be.  It was more of a teasing thing do you understand?"

         Severus smiles lightly nodding his head, yes, I know exactly what it means.  Anyways, I'm glad you and Harry are becoming friends, it'll probably make what I have to tell him easier."

         Draco gives Severus a questioning glance, but before he could answer, the bathroom floor opened up to reveal a completely pale Harry.

         "What's wrong?"

         Harry ignores Draco's question but turns to face Severus, his eyes filling with different emotions, competing to be felt the most.

         As his eyes meet Severus's, he knows the truth, he doesn't know how he does, but he knows that he's somehow Snape's son.

(AN: I was tempted to leave it here, but its only just going onto three pages so I decided I would keep writing….your pretty lucky…this time ^.^)

         Both Harry and Severus stared in silence with Draco trying to get their attention.

         One word escaped Harry's mouth that snapped Severus out of his thoughts.

         "How?"

         "I meant to tell you later Harry, when you were feeling better.  I truly mean to tell you, I just found out recently, that's why we went to your house to get you.  I had no idea the truth earlier, it was so impossible to believe that I never thought it could be possible."

         "Did you love her?"

         This question completely surprised Severus, he was expecting rage, anger, hatred, maybe even a little hope, but not the emotionless teen standing in the bathroom doorway.

         Swallowing slightly, Severus nods his head.  "I did, she meant the world to me, she was the reason I switched sides, although that is a story for a different time."

         Harry nods his head, moving forward to the bed, not taking his eyes off of Severus.  "When did you find out?  How did you find out?"

         Severus swallows again before answering.  "We were friends in school, more so for a little while, she was the only person I ever opened up to, but when she got together with Potter, my world fell apart.  I went to Voldemort looking for some sort of solace, of course I didn't get it, but he said I would.  Anyways, I loved her Harry, don't doubt that, when I found out that her and Potter were the focus of the Dark Lords, that's when I turned to spying or Dumbledore.  Even though she didn't even acknowledge me anymore, I still loved her with every beat of my heart.

         "You have to understand Harry, at that time, Voldemort was very suspicious of all his followers and often had us do secret missions getting certain things from different households that couldn't have been gotten without stealing them.  He gave me a mission to get something from your house, I disguised myself as James Potter to get the Amulet, but, Lily arrived home early and was in a happy mood to see me, I couldn't leave till the next morning.  That night was the best and worst of my life, I regret nothing more and I love nothing more than what happened that night, now more than ever."

         Severus gets lost in his own thoughts for a moment before continuing.  "I never saw her again until after you were born, you looked so much like James except for your eyes.  Anyways, the only reason I found out was because Remus Lupin found out the truth before anyone, even Lily didn't know, he's the reason we got you out of those muggles' hands, he's also the reason why I now."

         Throughout the entire explanation, Draco just sits there lost, trying to figure out what was happening.  He knew it was something important, and that he probably shouldn't be listening, but he couldn't help it.  

         Harry on the other hand was battling himself on the inside, how could Snape, this man, possible be his father, after all those years of torment he had put Harry through, how could he possibly be Harry's Dad.  This thought led to more thoughts which led to even more depressing thoughts to the point where Harry couldn't understand anything, he just sat on his bed like an empty vessel containing no life.

         Realizing his son was going into shock, Severus rushed over to the bed.  "Harry, Harry!  Listen to my voice, don't leave, come back, come back to my voice."  He just kept repeating this over and over until Harry's eyes gained some of their life back.

         Without realizing it, Severus pulled Harry into a crushing, fatherly hug.  Harry, who was just regaining some thought, instantly froze up from Severus's hug before slightly relaxing when he realized he wasn't being hurt, but was still tense.

         "Don't you ever scare me like that again Harry!"  Severus says as he sits back down, slightly embarrassed by his loss of control on his emotions.

         Harry looks up startled for a second, not only by the words, but by the raw emotion behind them.  "Do you really care?"

         "Of course I do, if I didn't there would be no way I would be down here at this moment."

         Harry's eyes filled with tears, he actually had someone who cared for him, who cares if it's Snape, someone really cared for him.  Without a second thought, Harry flung himself into the startled Professors arms.

         Severus was ready for just about anything, a crying teenage boy who happened to be his son was not one of them so he had no idea what to do.

         Whispering little nonsense words into Harry's ear while rubbing his back and slightly rocking him back and forth in his lap, Harry fell into an uneasy sleep.

         When Severus was certain Harry was sleeping, he gently laid him down onto the bed, covering him up with a blanket and retaking his seat next to the bed  and taking Harry's hand into his own.

         He was once again lost in his own thoughts when he heard a voice coming from his side.

         "What the Bloody Hell is going on here?!"  Draco whispered bewildered.

         Severus shifts slightly towards Draco, his shields down for once and Draco could see how confused his friend was.  

         Severus had always been there for Draco when he was growing up, he came by the Malfoy Manor a lot, often giving Draco private lessons in Potions when he had time.  Whenever Draco got into any trouble, it wasn't his father who helped him out, it was Severus, and Severus was the one who always helped Draco get out of all the little problems children got into.  For this, Draco was in his debt, he would always stand by Severus who was his first friend, the first person Draco had really opened up to until now.

         Seeing the lost look on Severus's face, Draco immediately crawled slowly albeit painfully, over to the side of the bed, taking his friend's hands into his own.

         "Sev, what's going on?  Please tell me, I want to help you if I can."

         Severus sighs before dropping Harry's hand, although carefully back onto the bed before taking Draco's.  "Well my little Dragon, I'm sure I own you an explanation.  But before I do, you have to promise me that you'll not tell anyone until I tell you it's okay, it could put me and Harry into a lot of danger."

         Draco nods his head waiting patiently for Severus to continue.

         "I've recently found out some information concerning Harry's parentage, it seems he does have a relative alive besides the Dursley's."

         Draco just sits silently, Severus's words washed over him but he couldn't fully grasp their meaning fully.

         Seeing this, Severus explained what he meant, to the complete astonishment of Draco, "it's recently come to my attention that, Harry Potter is my son."

TBC….

AN1:  Well, this was a slightly better chapter dontcha think?  Was the beginning at least a little bit funny???  I dunno, I wanted to put something funny into my story and that just wrote itself I guess….anyways here's the big chappie, although I promise this fic is going to last a while.  Ummm….next chapter will be something like POV from Sev, Harry and Draco throughout this chapter so you can see their reactions more clearly….I should have it out by the end of the week I think…I'm not positive though….

R&R!!!!!!!!!!  I only got 3 reviews last time ppl!!!  I'm dying here….I was thinking of not posting this until I got at least 5 more, but I really want to get more reviews so I thought I'd just post it….ttyl bbye

AN2:  also, to those who are disgusted with my grammar….well I apologize…that's one of my main weaknesses in my writing, I'm working on getting myself a beta so you shouldn't have to worry bout that anymore…well In a lil while anyways…I'm sry again about that!!


	11. Chapter 10 Thoughts and Deeper Reactions

                Chapter 10 – Thoughts and Deeper Reactions

*Harry's Reaction*

         _…It's not my fault I'm usually unconscious when I come into the infirmary Snape, it just happens that way._  Harry thinks to himself when he walks into the bathroom.

         _Damn Bloody Slytherin!  I don't understand how that greasy bastard could be somewhat civil one minute and be a complete jerk another.  What the hell did I do to deserve the way he treats me?  Nothing, absolutely nothing, well maybe I did a few things…_Harry's thoughts drift off towards the end of the Tri Wizard Tournament and the resurrection of the Dark Lord.

         As Harry reaches the sink, after taking care of business, he washes his hands and splashes his face with some cold water.  Looking up into the mirror, Harry freezes.

         _Holy Shit!  I totally forgot about this, why the hell do I look so different, I look almost exactly like Snape, well except for the nose which is a good thing.  But, what the hell is going on here. _

_         Alright, calm down Harry, it's not too much of a problem, just look at the facts before you go jumping to conclusions that'll just lead to harmful circumstances._

_         Fact 1:  I somehow changed my appearance when I turned 15._

_         Fact 2: Either no one else can see it or they already know what's happening and will tell me when they feel I'm ready._

_         Fact 3: Snape seems to be trying to act civil for once._

_         Fact 4: Draco is really, really cute….what the hell, where the bloody hell did _that_ come from?_

_         Fact 4…err the real fact 4: Snape seems to be sincerely worried, even if he doesn't show it all the time._

_         Fact 5: Well there really isn't another fact except that I'm most definitely going to figure what's going on today…I'll just have to go ask Snape about it, it won't be to hard after all…I think_

_         Well, lets see, Snape's nicer, yes, but that could just be because he feels guilty about what happened, or it could be something else._

_         I'm guessing everyone can see how I truly look because I remember seeing a surprised look on Snape's face at one point._

_         Well that certainly didn't help me out at all did it?  _

Harry just keeps looking at his reflection for a moment before scowling at how his thoughts were not helping him, only to jump back from shock.

         _What the Hell?  I just looked exactly like Snape when I did that…this has got to be some sick joke or something, the only way anyone could look as much like Snape as I did would have to be either a twin or his…his child!___

_         Wow, slow down Harry, that cannot possibly be true…I can't be the greasy bastards son…it's just not right, after all, we both despise each other don't we?_

_         Another voice from inside his head decided to speak up at that moment, it sounded weirdly like Professor Dumbledore.  'Ah but Harry, Snape has been kinder to you has he not within the last couple of days?'_

         Looking back into the mirror decidedly, Harry turns to walk to the door, every thought completely focused on confronting the Potions Master.

         As he opens the door, he locks eyes with Severus, unconsciously asking the truth with his eyes.  He was quite surprised to see the surprise and sorrow held within those eyes, he knew from that moment that it was true, he was a Snape.

         He heard his own voice from far away asking the questions and from an equally far distance, heard Severus's answer.

         _He had a father, a real live relative besides the Dursleys.  Even if it was the most hated Professor of Hogwarts, he had a living relative that maybe didn't hate him as much as the Dursleys, after all, Snape hadn't really done anything hurtful in a while, and what he did in class was probably the hate he had for his fa–James Potter._

_         I have a father, but does he want to be my father, he said he loved my mother so that helps, at least I wasn't a complete mistake then.  Oh God, what are Sirius, Ron and Hermione going to do?  How are they going to react?  They're going to hate me, what am I going to do?_

_         Harry knew that he was having a breakdown but he oddly didn't care, he just found out he had a father that may possibly care for him like no one else has ever cared for him, he cared a little bit about being a Snape, but that was only because of how Severus had treated him over the years.  He didn't know what to do, he desperately needed some consolation, but the only person here was Snape, could Snape care enough about Harry to comfort him?_

         _What the hell am I thinking, I should hate the bastard for hitting up my Mum!  _

_         The other voice came back, 'yes, but aren't you somewhat happy?  You just found out you have a father that is alive, don't go throwing this away just because of something that you cannot change.'_

         Harry grudgingly agreed and flung himself into Severus's arms, prepared just incase for the arms to deny him and push him coldly away, so he was very surprised when warm arms hesitantly circled his waist.

         After crying for a little while, Harry's last thought before slipping into a light, restless sleep was, _after all, there will be plenty of time to be furious at him later won't there?_

*Severus's Reaction*

         _That went all lot better then I ever thought it would.  How can he just except me after everything that I've done, I would hate me if I were in his shoes right now.  I've treated the poor boy terribly over the years and there's no one that regrets that more than me._

_         He must be in shock or something, I was expecting to see hate or anger in those eyes, maybe even a lot of confusion, but never the hope the dominated over all the other emotions.  Perhaps I have a chance after all, it might take a while, but it might just work…_

_         Hmm…He's asleep, he looks so innocent like that, not the troubled teen that he is, I just hope that I'll be able to release him from some of the burdens he has to live with, starting with getting him through what the damn Dursley's did to him…_

*Draco's Reaction* 

         _What the Hell?  Harry's Sev's son?  How is that possible, wait no, don't answer that, I do not need that picture right now…anyways how can Harry's be Sev's son?  They are nothing alike, well maybe they are now…but why did he look like Potter before?  It must have been a charm or something, Lucius said something about Lily being a genius at Charms a long time ago now that I think about it._

_         Anyways back to the topic, if Harry's Sev's son, will it interfere with our new, if unstable friendship?  Will it help it or make it worse?  Why is he even here in the first place?  Damn, I have way too many questions and not enough answers…guess I'll have to bug Sev into telling me when he gets a chance…_

TBC.

Hey, I know this is short, but I only wanted to get their individual reactions down…I know that Harry's is really long and not very well written, but I did my best everyone.  Anyways, I'll probably have maybe one or two more of these type of chapters throughout the story…and they will all be shorter than a regular chapter, after all…only so much can occur within ones' thoughts.

Anyways, thanx everyone for their reviews…umm….now I forgot what I wanted to say to everyone…and I'm to lazy to get onto aol…ill answer some of them in my next chapter which should come out tomorrow…I think…I was planning on having it out tonight along with this one...but, well…I got kinda sick this morning so I couldn't work on it today…sry!  Well R&R and ENJOY!


	12. Chapter 11: Sirius Problems

                         Chapter 11 – Sirius Problems ^.^

The next morning, Harry woke up to find Severus, no his father, asleep in the chair next to his bead, with a thick book lying open against his chest.  Harry took the quiet time to recollect what happened the night before, he now had a father, one that says he cares for Harry but is it the truth?

         It would have to be the truth wouldn't it?  The pure emotion in his eyes last night proved what he was saying to be the truth.

         In the bed next to him, Draco slowly woke up to find Harry watching Severus, who was still asleep.

         "Hey, umm, Harry, do you, ya know, want to talk about it?"  Draco asks in no more than a whisper, not wanting to wake up Severus.

         Harry looks up slightly startled to see Draco watching him closely, they had become friends within a few days, not even, was Harry ready to start sharing his feelings with Draco?  When would be the right time?  Might as well be now shouldn't it?

         "Sure I guess, I don't really know what to think about it all.  I think I know that he cares for me, at least somewhat, but I don't know how I feel about it.  I'm excited I guess, and a little hopeful, but I'm angry too.  I had to live with those 'Voldemort wannabes,' umm the Dursleys for my entire life only to be treated like a slave.  If you were wondering, yes that's why I had to come to Hogwarts, the muggles put me here, and I was in pretty much the same shape you were when you came in, except for the curses part.

         "Anyways, I don't know how he could care for me, he acted like he hated me the entire time I was in school, always looking for a way to expel me, give me detention, or take away house points," Harry says, slightly bitterly.

         "Harry, if I don't prove you wrong about people having masks to protect themselves, I don't know what could.  I've known Sev just about all my life, he's the only person who helped me out in the manor, and he was always there when I needed someone to talk to.  

"He's very protective of the people he cares about and once you get to know him a little better, and maybe spend some time with him, he'll open up to what he's like with me when we're alone.  I'm sure you know about his job and what it entails, that's just one of the reasons he had to treat you the way he did in public, and it'll probably have to continue like that in public until Voldemort is defeated or he's found out."

         Draco said this all in a whisper, still trying not to wake up Severus, he meant every word he just said, and he would say more but he had run out o breath.

         Harry just sat there in silence, thinking over what Draco had just told him.  After a while he looks up and smiles towards Draco, "Thanks Draco, I think that helped me out more than I realize, and I'll give him a chance."

         "That's all I could ask for Harry," a voice interrupts before Draco could answer, both boys look over to Severus to see him awake and looking at Harry intently.

         "I, we didn't mean to wake you Professor."  Harry says, slightly embarrassed.

         Severus moistens his lips before answering, "Harry, if you don't mind, you may call me Severus or 'Sev' as Draco calls me.  After all, if we do get some time to spend together, I don't want to have you keep addressing me as Professor or sir.  Although you'll have to call me that in public."

         "Yes Si–Severus, I think I could handle that," Harry smiles slightly towards Severus who smiles just as slightly back, but before he could answer him, the doors slammed open.

         "_You son of a bitch, How the hell could you do that to Lily!?_"  Sirius hissed out, much like a snake, towards Severus who was slightly surprised by the door banging open like that.

         "Black, how nice to see you again," Severus drawls out slowly, not showing any emotion.

         "Answer me Snape, I just found out about your little fun you had with Lily, of course you put it as a mission for Voldemort, I know about your little crush you had on her too, you went to her house on purpose didn't you?"

         "NO!  I would _never_ do that to her, yes I cared about her, but I would never do _that_.  It was a mission Black whether you believe me or not is up to you, I don't know how you found out, it was probably Lupin but its over and done now.  If Harry didn't already know about this and you had just ruined ever chance I had with him, you would be very sorry _mutt_."  Severus whispered out in a deadly tone, putting shivers up and down everyone's backs, he had somehow stood up from his chair through his tirade.

         "If you think I'm going to allow Harry to stay anywhere near you then you're mistaken.  I've figured out you have everyone in your little scheme, how you even have Albus, I already told him I was going to take Harry to Remus' flat with me when I go back.  You can't stop me either, I'm his rightful guardian, and after all, _James is dead._"

         "Sirius!  Calm down, don't I get a choice in this?  What if I wanted to stay here?"  Harry says desperately, not wanting to loose his chance to get to know his father, also furious by the way his godfather was acting.

         "No, you will be coming back to the flat, you will not be coming back until school starts and I don't want to hear another word."  Sirius says, still glaring daggers at Snape.

         "Hey, you can't force me to do anything I don't want to Sirius, if you keep trying to force me to do something, I will never forgive you.  You'll be turning into what I despise the most, you'll be turning into another Dursley and I will never forgive you for that.  Now, if you're going to continue your ridiculous  tirade, I want you to leave."

         Sirius stares at Harry for a long moment before stomping out of the infirmary, muttering about how the greasy bastard already had Harry under his spell and that he would remove Harry from this place.

         "Oh god, I've probably just lost my godfather."  Harry says distraught as he watched Sirius to leave.

         Severus and Draco were still slightly surprised by Harry outburst, but Severus sat down next to Harry's bed talking softly to him.

         "Harry, you did what you thought was right, you can't help yourself right now, you've been just given a large blow and I'm sure you're still shocked by it.  I promise to you that I wont make you do anything you don't want to unless its absolutely necessary, Black will just need some time to cool down before he can see any one of us.  I promise you though, he wont be taking you away from Hogwarts as long as I'm here."

         Harry shakes his head slightly, "thanks, but I'm still to blame for blowing up like that, he'll probably hate me now."

         "How about we get some breakfast and we'll talk about it more later.  I'm sure both you boys are hungry are you not?"

         Two 'yes's' came from either side of Severus so he summoned a house elf to bring some food for three.

         As they waited for the food to come in, a slightly ruffled Remus walked through the doors.

         "I'm sorry to intrude, but I wanted to apologize for Sirius's behavior.  I meant to tell him in private, but he wouldn't stop asking questions.  I tried to hold him back but he transformed and I couldn't get a hold onto him.  I'll try to talk some sense into him, but until then, we both are going to head back to my flat alright Harry?"

         Harry nods his head slightly.

         "Alright then, we should be back within a week or two, if not, we'll be back before school starts, take care Harry and make sure to owl us if you need anything, Severus, Mr. Malfoy, I'll be seeing you both later."  Remus states as he walks back out the door to go find Sirius and take him home.

         A soft snort came from Draco's bed, "well that went nicely wouldn't you say?"

         Harry smiled slightly at the dry humor in Draco's tone, he was just trying to lighten the mood after all and Harry was grateful for it.

         A few minutes later, the food appeared, there was more than likely enough for a dozen or so people, but Harry and Draco both dug in with a vengeance.  Severus took a plateful slightly more dignified.  For the rest of the day, Harry and Draco sat in the infirmary exchanging stories about their lives.  Severus had to go down to the dungeons to finish the plan for school in a little less than a month.

         Draco was a very good listener for Harry when Harry went through his school years in detail, he told Draco everything from his invisibility cloak, to the Polyjuice Potion in second year, which got a good laugh out of Draco, he even told Draco about the third task and what happened after he touched the cup.  He didn't know why he told him that, he hadn't even told Hermione or Ron about that yet, he just felt he could tell Draco anything and not be judged by it.  The only thing he didn't tell Draco about was the past month, Harry didn't think he was ready to tell anyone about that yet.

         Draco was very sympathetic about the tournament, but he didn't show any pity which Harry was thankful for.  In return for Harry's life story as they dubbed their little talk as later on, Draco told Harry his.  He told him how he grew up he didn't have anyone their for him when he needed an adult except for Severus, Draco told Harry that his father started to teach him the Dark Arts when he was ten and how he was expected to be a Death Eater like his father.  

He explained that he followed his father because he was just that, a father that gave his son everything he had ever wanted, whether it was money or the newest racing broom.  Draco slightly slowed down during the last month, but he explained just about everything that happened after he refused to be a Death Eater, he just didn't go into detail about the abuse.

Harry was a good listener in return and reacted almost identically to how Draco reacted to the third task.  He did feel some pity but he pushed it down, knowing Draco was similar to himself in that he didn't want any pity from anyone.

As the day wore on, they had gotten a few visitors, the professors would stop in every so often and check on the boys.  They were quite surprised to find both of the boys chatting like old friends, but decided not to say anything about it to not brake, whatever was happening, up.

As it started to become dark again, Poppy came into the room to give Harry and Draco a check up, she seemed upset about something but didn't tell Harry or Draco what it was.  After a little while of pokes and 'uh huh's' coming form the Medi-Witch, Poppy finally quit.

"Well boys, I don't know why I agreed to this, but Severus requested that you two could get out of the infirmary.  At first I refused saying you needed your rest, but he insisted so, he'll be up momentarily to bring you down to his quarters where you'll be restricted to your beds.  I don't want you up and about as I'm sure you two would like to be, I want you both to stay in bed for at least another couple of days.  You haven fully recovered yet and you may aggravate the wound if you move around to much, is that understood?"

"Yes, ma'am," the two boys chorused, both excited to finally get out of the infirmary, but Harry was also slightly anxious about going down to his father's rooms.

Severus walked into the room, a few minutes later asking if they were ready.  They both nodded their heads and got up slowly, they were both n a lot of pain but knew that if they didn't get out soon, Poppy would make them stay.  Both boys made it slowly and painfully down into the dungeons to find themselves in front of a portrait with a snake in it.  

Severus whispered out the password and the snake bobbed its head once before opening.  Both boys walked into the room and Draco went to go sit on the couch while Harry sat there stunned by what was in front of him.

The room was furnished in black, silver, and green with a small fireplace against the wall.  There was a deep forest green carpet on the floor with a couple of cushioned chairs encircled around a small table in front of the fireplace.  On the other side of the room, there was a door leading into another room that looked like a kitchen but Harry couldn't tell.  Straight across from Harry on the last wall were three doors.

Harry was knocked out of his thoughts when Severus asked him if he liked it.  Harry smiled a genuine smile and nodded his head.

Severus released a breath that he hadn't known he was holding.  "I'm glad you like it, anyways the door on the very far left is my room, there's another door farther in that leads to my private lab, please don't go in there unless you have permission first, the middle door is the bathroom and the door on the far right is your room along with Draco's.  It used to be his, but I don't think he'll mind sharing with you, there is already another bed in there made."

"It' s great, but I'm really tired so do you mind if I go to bed?"

"That's fine Harry, I'm sure Draco will join you because he seems to be falling asleep on my chair.  Goodnight and I'll talk to you in the morning."

"Kay, G'night Severus," Harry yawns as he walks into the room he was to share with Draco, not noticing anything until he fell into the bed of the right side of the room.

A few minutes later, Draco stumbled into the room and fell into the same bed, neither one noticing where the other was, both boys fell into a peaceful sleep, dreaming of things in the morning they wouldn't remember.

TBC…

AN: well, how did everyone like this chapter?  The plot is going to start to pick up now, Harry's finally out of the Hospital wing now…well I hope to read lots of reviews!  So make sure you leave one, even if it just says good work…I don't care…umm…thanx for all ur reviews so far, they're great and I agree with pretty much everything anyone has said

O and BTW…this is going to be a H/D slash story, its not going to be too deep, I mean they are only 15…but there will be some snoggage later on…umm…they might become better friends before they start to go out…but ya never know…it all depends on what I feel like writing…ttyl bbye

R&R


	13. Chapter 12: This and That

**                                    Chapter 12: This and That**

The next morning, Severus walked into the boys' room to find them both   
peacefully asleep in each others arms. He had to work very hard not to   
laugh at the irony of the picture, he figured they both were too tired   
to see where they were going so they ended up in the same bed. He was   
going to wake them up for breakfast, but he thought it would be amusing   
to let them wake up on their own.

Walking out quietly, to start making breakfast, knowing that the aroma   
of food would wake one of them up eventually Severus couldn't help   
thinking how cut they looked together.  
Not fifteen minutes after he had started making breakfast, a noise   
coming from the room alerted him that at least one of the boys had   
awakened.

He walked over to the door to find Draco sitting up staring down at   
Harry, a dreamy expression filtering through his face.  
Severus cleared his throat and Draco looked up embarrassedly. 

"Morning Sev, why didn't you wake me up before, and what am I doing in   
this bed?"

Severus raised an amused eyebrow before answering, "What, you don't   
remember? I woke you up last night from the chair so you could come in   
here to sleep in your bed. I daresay you should have watched where you   
were going, it would have saved you some embarrassment."

Draco just glared while trying to get out of bed slowly so he didn't   
wake up Harry.  Of course, whenever someone tries to do this it goes   
just the opposite.  So of course, Harry woke up to find Draco leaning   
over him with his arms slightly draped across him. Both boys froze   
staring into each other's eyes before Severus interrupted them.

"Breakfast will be serve in a few moments you two, I suggest you get   
changed beforehand because we'll probably get a visit from the   
Headmaster."

Harry and Draco both jumped apart after Severus left, both blushing,   
Harry more so than Draco.

"You can go ahead and use the bathroom Harry, I'll use the bedroom."   
Draco mutters softly as he went over to the trunk in the corner of the   
room with the initials D.M. on the front.

"Thanks," Harry muttered just as softly, after opening his trunk and   
getting his clothes, he headed towards the bathroom.  
*~*~*~*~*

As Severus just finished setting the food on the table, both boys   
entered the kitchen a little more awake, neither of them looking at   
each other.

Severus just laughed mentally at the absurdity of the boys' behavior   
before silently sitting down and serving himself some of the omelettes   
he had made.

"So, how did you two boys sleep?" He asked after ten minutes of   
silence.

Both boys looked at each other before looking down quickly blushing   
red.

Draco cleared his throat while reaching for some toast before   
answering regularly, "I slept great, how about you, Harry?"

Harry answered, trying to keep the nervousness out of his voice, "Oh,   
umm, fine, just fine." He shot Draco a small smile that Draco barely   
caught, but didn't say anything about it, knowing he would only be   
mercifully teased by Severus who was now engrossed in the Daily Prophet   
that had appeared on the table.

Harry looked around the kitchen table once again, noticing there was a   
lot of muggle machines, but no outlets or plugs or anything, Draco   
noticing the confused look on Harry's face explained quietly.

"You know that no electricity or whatever it's called can be used at   
Hogwarts anyways, they are run on magic.  Some old wizard was charged by   
the Misuse of Magic in the Ministry when his stove was found to burn   
cold fire. Anyways, after a while, he died, and his daughter got a   
hold of all his possessions.

"When she was going through it all, she found lots of things that had   
been tampered with to allow them to run on magic. It's easy to see   
what she did with the knowledge, isn't it?"

Harry looked interested in the story before thinking on the question   
that was asked. He knew Draco was asking this for a reason, probably   
testing him in some way, but Harry had no idea why. Maybe he should   
say what he would do, or maybe what she should do with the items. 

Shaking his head, Harry decided just to answer whatever came to mind.  
Severus, who had finished the Daily Prophet, watched this with   
interest, he knew what Draco was asking, and he himself was a Slytherin   
after all.

"Well," Harry began, "I think before all this happened, with the   
Dursleys that is, I would answer differently, but I now know what human   
nature is really like. There might be some exceptions, but everyone   
has their evil side, the one that tells them to commit crime and all   
that. Anyways, I'll have to say that she either went straight to the   
Ministry and turned the stuff in and then someone else found it and put   
use to it, or she took the stuff back to her house to figure out how it   
all worked.

"She then would bring it to the Ministry saying she was experimenting   
for something or another and discovered a way in which Muggle   
contraptions could be used in magically sustained homes. The Ministry,   
since it's blinded by greed, would then believe her story, thinking   
only of the profit that the machines would bring them. The woman would   
then go home quite a few Galleons richer."  Draco and Severus just sat   
there stunned, sure Draco had asked him that question, but they both   
thought he would answer with a Gryffindor answer, not something that a   
Slytherin might say.  Harry looked between Severus and Draco before   
finally getting fed up,

"Well, what is it? What did I say?"

Severus blinked before realizing what Harry had just asked. "Well,   
what you just said would be considered something a Slytherin would say   
if they were asked that question. I don't know if you realized it, but   
Draco was testing you, only to see how you thought on questions like   
that and how you perceived human nature. Needless to say, you   
surprised both of us because that was a very Slytherin thing to say.

"We were expecting an answer along the lines of 'she was so generous   
that she went straight to the Ministry and turned the stuff in, in   
return the Ministry thanked her and she went on her way back home.   
Then later another Ministry worker would stumble upon the machines and   
see them for what they should really mean.' Are you certain that   
you're in the right house?" Severus asked lightly, only to be   
completely surprised by Harry's answer.

"Actually, I'm surprised the Headmaster didn't tell you what almost   
happened. The night of the sorting, I had to argue with the hat not to   
put me into Slytherin.  The only thing I knew about the house was from   
the other students saying it was the evil house and then again, Draco   
here had just been sorted into Slytherin. You can say we already   
despised each other so I refused to go into that House.  After a little   
while the hat relented and allowed me into Gryffindor.

"He told me I could have been great in Slytherin, and that the house   
was sure to show me my path to greatness. You can be sure to know that   
that scared me, after all, I knew so little of the wizarding world   
then, I didn't want to become great or anything, especially if it was   
going to be because I was evil."

Severus and Draco sat there, allowing the information to sink in.   
After a while Draco looked up, an uneasy look in his eyes.

"Harry, you know that I'm not him, or rather, not the Draco from back   
then don't you?"

Harry looked confused before realizing what Draco meant, "Yeah, I   
know, you've changed, rather, you have finally become yourself. I also   
know we were both foolish back then and we all made mistakes.  Besides,   
I already thought we went through all of this didn't we?"

"Actually, we didn't, it was more of a mutual understanding."

"Well, there ya go, it was mutual so why did we have to talk about it?"

"God, here we go again, the Gryffindor stupidity strikes again."

"Hey, I thought you said I was just worthy to be a Slytherin!"

"Yeah, that was before you opened your mouth to allow your Gryffindor   
side to show again."

Harry just opened and closed his mouth a couple of times before   
settling on glaring, his bottom lip poking out slightly.

Draco just smirked before his eyes fell down to Harry's mouth. 'God,   
he looks so kissable right now.  Wait!  I can't kiss him, not now,   
probably not ever.' He thought to himself before both boys were   
knocked out of their slight glaring contest.  Severus was laughing   
quietly at the boys' antics.

This only turned their glares onto him which made him laugh even more,   
before they knew it, all three of them were laughing, breakfast totally   
forgotten.  
*~*~*~*~*

Thousands miles away, a group of black cloaked figures were standing   
around a throne. A large snake was seated at its foot while a man,   
pale as snow, but no where near as pure sat upon the chair.  
After a long period of silence, he spoke, his voice coming out   
sounding closely like a hiss.

"Welcome my faithful Death Eaters. You are the only ones I'm sure of   
your trust, however, you are still not forgiven for abandoning me like   
you did. Malfoy! What is this that I hear about your son?"

"My Lord, he escaped somehow, I had him locked in one of the dungeons,   
and he must have had some way of escape."

"Silence.  That is enough excuses for yourself, if you fail me one more   
time you will be punished. Wormtail, how has your spying been coming?"

"N-nothing new has be-been spotted my Lord, ex-e-except for S-Snape,   
he has been s-seeing Albus frequently, also, D-Draco Malfoy is within   
H-Hogwarts along with H-H-Harry P-Potter My Lord."

The Dark Lord sat in his chair, going over the information he had just   
received.  He suspected Snape was a traitor ever since he tried stopping   
Quirrell from getting the Sorcerer's Stone four years ago.

"I see, Lucius, how did your son get to Hogwarts?" Voldemort said   
softly.

"I do not know my Lord, perhaps he had some help from an out-"  
Lucius was cut off from finishing with a lazy Crucio from Voldemort,   
after a few minutes of watching Lucius writhe on the floor, Voldemort   
lifted the curse.

"I do not appreciate you trying to force the blame on others for your   
obvious mistake. One more mistake Lucius, and Nagina shall be fed to   
her hearts content."

Lucius stood up, shaken.  "Yes My Lord."

Voldemort nodded his head once. "Anyways, since I was, unable to   
watch my followers for so long, you all shall have separate tasks to   
complete, no one but yourselves and myself will know what they are, so   
if you fall you shall be considered a traitor and will be punished   
accordingly."

A shiver went through the entire group of people.  They had seen the   
torture Voldemort had used on past traitors.

"Anyways, as to what we will do about Snape. Does anyone here wish to   
say something?"

A person towards the back slowly made their way forward, bending to   
kiss the hem of Voldemort's robes before kneeling to speak.

Voldemort nodded his head and a soft, male voice spoke from beneath a   
white mask.

"My Lord, at the end of the year, I received information that he is   
somehow tied to Dumbledore. I believe he is in his secret order, and   
has been spying on you from before your, umm-" the man trailed off,   
not quite sure how to speak of his Lord's downfall.

Voldemort look slightly irritated before showing no emotion, "since   
you are new, I shall not punish you for your inability to speak   
properly. You shall all refer to the time period I was gone as my   
temporary absence."

"Thank you my lord," the cloaked figure replied before backing back up   
into the crowd once again, but not before seeing a lock of red hair   
fall past his mask.

"As to Severus Snape, I have always suspected him of betrayal, but he   
was most invaluable in his art, everyone here must not show that we   
know of his betrayal. Continue on acting normally around him, we shall   
need his expertise for a little while longer before we can extract   
revenge."

A loud cheer went up from the people, all looking forward to a night   
of fun with the traitor.

Voldemort held up a hand, "Wormtail, have you gotten the scrolls yet?"

"N-no my Lord, the temple is g-guarded th-thoroughly, they don't   
a-allow a fly into it, n-ne-never mind a r-rat."

"I see.  Lucius, Crabbe, Goyle, help Wormtail out in breaking into that   
temple, I need those scrolls before we attack."

"Yes My Lord," they replied, all bowing to their master.

"Yes, you're all dismissed, I'll call you when I need you again."

"Yes my Lord, thank you my Lord," resounded through the room as one by   
one they all disappeared with a pop, all but one, who was standing off   
to the side in the shadows.

"Wormtail, next time, bring me better information. Crucio." As   
Wormtail fell to the floor twitching in pain, screaming, Voldemort   
laughed a high cruel laugh.  
  
TBC-

AN:  Sorry this chapter is a little short, but I already have the next one done…but I didn't have anything to put in here without the chapter being way to long….but the next chapter is finished so I'll just put that up too.

Anyways, sorry about the delay, AOL was being a prat and shut off for a week, and then when it got turned back on it crashed….so I now have a new e-mail address and AIM…Anyways, thanks to my beta, I'm problem free in my grammar now ^.~…aren't you happy?

LOL, umm….tell me what you think, ttyl bbye  R&R!

PS: if anyone sees any problem or has any questions, feel free to ask me, my e-mail is valley59@adelphia.net and my AIM is Sevvie Rules   umm…I think that's it, hope you liked this chapter.


	14. Chapter 13: Gifts

Chapter 13: Gifts  
  


After breakfast had finished, Severus, Harry, and Draco headed into the living room, but Harry stopped in the doorway surprised.  
On the table, in front of the fire were wrapped boxes, presumably presents.

Severus and Draco watched in amusement as Harry slowly entered the room, shooting confused looks their way.  
Taking pity on Harry, Draco decided to lighten the mood.  "Well, you didn't really think we would forget your birthday did you, even if it is a little late!"  Harry sat down in one of the chairs slowly.  

"Well, how did you know when my birthday was anyways, and when did you get the time?"

"Well, they aren't all from us, some are from the Weasleys and Ms. Granger.  I think there's one from Fleur Delacour also."  Severus says, while picking up one of the gifts towards the top.  "Here, this is from Draco, if you're wondering how we got them, we'll explain when you're finished."

Harry took the present carefully before slowly opening it.  Before he got far though, Draco interrupted him.  

"For Merlin's sake Harry, wrapping paper is for tearing off, not peeling off, and definitely not for keeping in one piece."  Draco said impatiently, while motioning for Harry to hurry up.

Harry grinned before finally ripping off the paper to find a bow.  Looking at it confusedly, he opens the top only to find two small golden eyes looking back at him.  Blinking a couple of times, Harry finally realized what he was looking at was a snake, a beautiful green snake with a silver underbelly and patterns along it's back in a deeper green then the rest of it.

Harry looked up, surprised towards Draco to find Draco watching him intently, when Draco realized Harry was looking at him, he grinned.  "So, do you like her?"

"I-she's beautiful, where did you get her?"

"I ordered her from a pet shop, where else?"

Harry smiled again before looking down.

ßHello, what's your name?ß

The snake sits up, well extends her head up, looking into Harry's eyes.  ßDid you just sspeak human?ß

Harry smiles slightly, ßyess, I assked you what your name wass.ß

The snake looked confused for a minute before replying, ßI do not have what you humanss call a name.  I jusst have my markingss that disstinguish uss ssnakess apart.  If you wish, you may name me.ß

Harry looks thoughtful for a moment before replying, ßhow about Klara.  Lara for short?ß

The snake looks thoughtful for a moment before nodding her head, ßI like it, what shall I call you?ß

Harry smiles before answering, ßmy name'ss Harry, would you like to get out of that box?ß

ßYessß

Harry reaches down, ignoring the startled shout coming from somewhere next to him.

The snake goes up around Harry's arm and curled itself comfortably around his neck while Harry turned towards Draco to say his thanks, only to find both Draco and Severus stunned, staring at the snake.

"Harry, you do realize you have one of the most poisonous snakes in the world around your neck do you not?"  Draco says slowly.  
Harry blinks a couple of times, "Klara's poisonous?!"

Severus finally snaps out of his reverie, "Klara, as you call her, has to be one of the few Scantial Serpents left.  They carry a venom in their fangs that can kill you or save you."

"Wow, that's kind of cool though, I mean, if I got into some sort of danger, if she was willing, couldn't she save me?"

"She could, but if she used the full effect of her venom, she would either die or be venom less, that's why there are only a few of them left."

"Wow, I mean, I don't know what to say, thank you Draco, she's absolutely wonderful, and how did you find her?"

Draco looks around sheepishly before answering, "Well, I didn't really find her exactly, I just asked the owner to do me a favor and send me his best snake.  He owed me something because I saved his business by selling him a group of manticores that my father wanted to get rid of.  Anyways, I didn't realize he had a Scantial Serpent, but I am glad I asked specifically for the best though."  
Harry smiled again before taking the next present from Severus.  He opened it more quickly, realizing he had a lot more to go.  Inside was a tin of fudge and a wizard chess set.  Taking the letter that was with the present, realized it was from the Weasley's.  Looking at the letter, Harry read:  
  
Dear Harry,  
How are you doing mate?  Summer has been boring so far this year, Mum's been nagging at Fred and George to study and Ginny has been in her room most of the time with Hermione, she's been over for most of the summer.  Anyways, how have you been?  Have the muggles been treating you all right?  If not, we'll come rescue you again.  Also Fred and George say thank you, don't know what about, they said you would know.  Well Happy Birthday, and since Dumbledore said you couldn't come over, can you meet us at Gringotts the Saturday before term starts?  
See you later (I hope)  
Ron  
  


Frowning slightly, Harry put down the letter, Severus, seeing something was wrong, decided to ask.

"What's wrong Harry?"

"Oh it's nothing, I'm just wondering what I should tell Ron and Herm when I see them."

"Well, what's wrong with the truth, don't you trust them?"

Harry looked thoughtful for a moment before nodding his head.  "Yeah, I trust them, it's just that I don't want them to look at me differently when they find out what's happened.  Ron last year, with the Tri-Wizard Tournament, turned on me because he thought I put my name in the goblet, I guess it's just harder than I thought to get over that."

"You shouldn't have to Harry, Weasley is the one at fault, he should have believed you if he was a true friend, I thought we went over this before?"  Draco said softly.

Harry shook his head before nodding, "you're right, I know you are, it's just hard.  Anyways, on with the presents!"

As Harry worked his way through the pile, he got a coat made of some animal fur from Hagrid that was way too big for him, he thought it must have come from the giants.  From Hermione, he got a book on defense potions, which in return prompted Severus to tell Harry teasingly that he had better have the book memorized by the time school started.  

From Sirius, Harry got a practice snitch and a cleaning kit to go along with it, Remus got him a book about animagi, which Severus warned Harry not to try unless he had supervision.  Severus knew that Harry would try it whether or not he told him not to.  Surprisingly, Fleur did send him something, it was a small package with a pouch of silver hair.  Reading the small letter that came with it, he found out that it was actually real veela hair, she had said that it was good in a lot of potions, surprisingly, mostly defensive ones.  Severus promptly took the hair and put it on the shelf next to the fire so Harry didn't loose it, since it was quite expensive to get.

Realizing he hadn't gotten anything from Severus, Harry looked up to find one more present being held out to him.  Opening it more slowly, he found a box that looked like it had been shrunk.  Looking questioningly towards his father, Severus took out his wand.

"Please set it on the floor Harry, I'll enlarge it again so you can look inside."

Nodding, Harry did as he was told and Severus with an engorgement charm enlarged the box.  In front of Harry sat a trunk that looked a lot like the trunk the fake Moody had last year.  Looking back over to the package, Harry saw a set of keys that went with the trunk.

Opening the first compartment, Harry found another wrapped box.  Harry took it out to open it.  Inside he found a pensieve with a little note explaining how to use it, the note also said there were a few memories about Lily inside too, but to look at it a different time.

Looking up, Harry found Severus watching him, presumably watching for his reaction.  "Thanks, this is great!"

Severus smiled slightly, "I'm glad you like it, although there is six other compartments to look into."  
Harry looked surprised for a moment before putting the pensieve back and opening a different compartment.  Inside he found several shelves with potion ingredients and some books.  Scrunching his nose up, and pouting, he looked over to Severus who was looking slightly amused.

"Sev," Harry whined, not paying attention to what he was saying, which made Severus smile more and Draco to start laughing.  

"Why'd you get me potion stuff?  Couldn't you do that any other time?"

"I could have, but with you being the son of a Potions Master, I thought it would be appropriate.  Besides, even if no one else knows why, you will be getting better grades this year in my class young man or you'll be grounded."  Harry looks crestfallen for a moment before he a grin spread across his face.  "But you can't ground me because what would I tell my friends?"

"Albus knows so I'll just tell him and he can tell your friends an excuse with you being sick or busy for a while."

Harry pouted once again, and opened another compartment.  Inside he found a room that looked like a storage room.  On one of the nearer shelves, Harry picked up a long, wrapped package.  Opening it, he found a Firebolt II, slightly faster than the previous one, but with more control for sharp turns.  Grinning, Harry turned to Severus, saying his thanks over and over again.

Opening the fourth compartment, Harry looked in to find an egg, wrapped in a warm blanket.  Looking towards Severus, Harry asked what it was.

"That, Harry, is something that every Snape has owned, I have one, my father had one and his father did too, so forth and so on.  Anyways, it's a cousin to the Basilisk, no where near as large nor deadly.  It'll grow to be as long as your arm eventually and it will be able to protect you when needed, other than that, you have to find out the rest he can do for yourself."

"Wow, thanks, this is great, when will it hatch?"

"In about a week, you can keep it next to your bed in that blanket.  Its charmed to stay a constant temperature."

Harry nodded his head while opening the next compartment, only to find a room filled with shelves of books.  Looking around, from the top, he realized each shelf was dedicated to one subject of his studies, and also one to the other classes he didn't take.  The only one missing was Divination.

In the sixth section, Harry found a room with mats and other muggle equipment someone would find in a gym.  
Seeing the question Harry was a bout to answer, he started to explain.  "Harry, with the war coming up, we need you to be strong, both mentally, magically, and physically.  I'm going to request that you work in that room at least an hour a day until school starts, and then at least a half an hour.  If you'll allow him, I want Draco to accompany you so he can work too."

"Sure, that sounds logical, but an hour?  That's terrible."

"If you don't do at least one hour, I'll know.  There's a charm on that room saying who and how long someone works in there, so yes, you do have to work."

"Okay, enough of that, I want to know what's in the last part!"  Draco says suddenly, not really looking forward to the physical work, but knowing it would be beneficial to both Harry and himself.

Harry smiled slightly and opened the last division.  Inside he saw things he knew and things he didn't.  On one side there was a wall with every weapon he could think of, and some he didn't have a clue as to what they were called.  On the opposite wall, there were targets and some dummies, along with books.  The room was the biggest one out of them all, on one side, there were mats and on the other, dirt for the floor.  

Looking up to Severus, Harry couldn't help but keeping the impressed look from his eyes.  "That's, I mean, this is amazing."

"I'm glad you like it.  Anyways in the last room, you'll find books on how to work it.  You'll see what I mean, in addition to your other room, I want another hour for this room.  It'll help you build your physique and balance.  Later, once you get the basics down, I'll take you both to a weapons dealer to get your own set of weapons."

"Thanks Sev, but I'm tired now, Harry took too long to open his gifts, wake me before lunch would you?"  Draco said as he headed off to the boys' room.

"Sure thing Draco."  Severus says as the door shuts behind Draco.

Harry sets down his trunk before facing his father, it was still weird calling Severus Snape his father, even in his thoughts, but this present proved he wanted to try, so why couldn't Harry give it a try too?  
Clearing his throat, Harry looked up.  "Thanks for the trunk, it really is wonderful, even the compartment with the potion stuff in it."  That earned him a slight smile from Severus.  "I think I'm going to go look at some of the memories if that's okay."

"It's perfectly fine Harry, I'm glad you liked my gift, besides, I think you'll find potions to be somewhat easier now."  Severus replies cryptically before standing up.

"I'm going to head for my office so I can work on the class schedule.  If I'm not back by lunch time, could you come get me?  I tend to loose track of time when I work."

Harry nodded his head before standing up.  He looked uncertain for a second before looking up.  He gave Severus a quick hug before heading to his room, before the door closed behind Harry, Severus could have sworn he heard, "good luck with your schedules, dad."  
Shaking his head, a smile on his lips, Severus headed towards his office, not noticing he had passed some teachers, who had stared when they had seen him smiling.  
   
TBC…

AN:  Well….how did you like it??  Please tell me you liked it, I hope you liked it anyways.  Ummm….sry again for the delay, read previous chapter AN to find out the cause.  

Like I said before, I have a beta, and she's great, so no more silly little grammar mistakes….YEA!!  (^.^)  lol anyways, plz, I beg of you R&R  I really love everyone's reviews….

PS: plz let me know if you have any questions or even ideas, everything is welcome, and if you do give me an idea, I'll give you credit for it….

PSS:  the Snakes belong to me, along with some other stuff which I cant recall at the moment, anyways, if you'd like to use them, plz ask before you do, I'll most likely allow you to but just as long as you ask, thanks

Also…yeah, I know this is a long AN, but anyways…if anyone's still reading this, the plot is getting thicker if you know what I mean, Harry still doesn't know everything about himself, Severus is still holding stuff back….and when is Harry going to tell everyone what happened over the summer?  Soon…I promise you all these questions should be answered soon…along with some questions left in reviews….ttyl bbye

IMPORTANT!!!

OMG, I just had to post this too to tell ppl, even if you already know….the fifth book is coming out June 21!!!  On the Solstice, can u believe it??  Anyways, just had to tell ya….also, if anyone likes Vampires, plz visit this site, it's absolutely awesome…     I fell in love with I the first day I joined…so plz plz plz check it out!    


	15. Chapter 14: Memories

Chapter 14 – Memories

          When Harry got back to his and Draco's room he took out his Pensieve and set it down on his bed quietly so he didn't wake Draco, who was already sound asleep.  

          Moving towards the bed, Harry sat down, leaning against the headboard, deciding whether or not to look through some of the memories.  Sighing slightly, Harry leaned forward like he did with the Headmaster's pensieve, only this time he knew how to get out.

*~*~*~*~*

          It appeared to be the Hogwarts express, and by the looks of all the children, on its way to the school.  Harry looked around only to find himself standing next to a small Severus, apparently in his first year.  Looking around the compartment, he could see the other students were giving Severus a wide birth, all except a short redhead.

          'Mom?'  Is all Harry could think as he watched the scene play out in front of him.

          "Hello, I'm Lily Evans, what's your name?"  The red head asked, ignoring the sneer that was sent her way.

          "Severus Snape," he replied coldly, not once losing the sneer.

          "Nice to meet you, what house do you think you'll be getting into?  I think I'm probably going to be a Ravenclaw."

          "Slytherin."

          Lily looked a little put out by the tone of voice Severus, her new friend was using so she decided to ignore it.

          "That's the house that my Aunt was in, she wanted me to be in it too but I don't think I would fit in there."

          "Figures.  Besides, Slytherin isn't fit for Mudbloods."

          "Mud-what's?"

          "Mud.  Bloods.  Namely, you."

          Lily looked shocked for a moment before tears started to well up in her eyes, looking at Severus one more time, she fled out through the doors, nearly knocking over an older, blond headed man who was approaching Severus.

          Before the vision blurred, Harry could have sworn he saw hurt flash through his father's eyes.

*~*~*~*~*

          "Lils, come on, we're going to be late for our meeting."  A voice slightly familiar said as Harry focuses on where he was.  It appeared to be the library and Severus, when he was in his third year by the looks of it, sat reading a book on Potions. 

          'Figures,' Harry thought to himself as he focused back on what was being said a few rows down.

          "I'm sorry Siri, but I can't come tonight, I have to tutor some students."

          "Aww, but Lil, you're always tutoring someone at one point or another, why can't you just come to the Marauder's Meeting, just once, please."

          "Don't you dare give me your puppy eyes, Sirius Black, you know very well they don't work with me."

          Harry could just imagine the lost look on Sirius' face as Lily reprimanded him.

          "All right all right, you win, I'll just tell everyone that you're tutoring the mysterious student again, any chance you'd tell me who it is?"

          "No, now go on, tell James and Remi I'll talk to them later."

          "Fine, See you later Red."

          As Sirius said that, you could hear his voice drifting farther away, complaining about one thing or another.  

          Turning around slightly, he realized Severus had cleared a spot on the table, which was filled by books a minute later accompanied by a 'sorry I'm late.'

          "It's fine, I heard the mutt complaining all the way over here."

          "Sev, you know I can't just ditch those three guys, they're pretty much impossible to evade."

          "Yes, they are aren't they.  Anyways, what are we working on tonight?"

          "Actually, I was wondering if you could help me with potions, I don't understand the procedure Professor Bicket gave us."

          Severus smiled slightly at the pouting look on Lily's face.  "You know, the way we first met, on the train, no one would guess we ever became friends would they?"

          Lily smiles too, "It took me forever to get around your masks and walls, but I never gave up.  I never give up on anyone who I consider my friend."

          "If it wasn't for Lucius, which is surprising, we would have never become friends in the first place.  You never did tell me what he did to you."

          Lily's smile faltered before she answered.  "That's because I haven't told anyone, but then again, I think you deserve to know.  After all you've done for me, even if you didn't realize it."

          Lily's eyes drift away as if she was seeing something that wasn't there.

          "I was returning from the kitchens because I missed dinner.  It was pretty dark out because there was a storm raging, and I was about halfway back to the Gryffindor Common room when someone grabbed me from behind, one hand over my mouth so I couldn't shout out.  He took me into an abandoned class room and put silence charms up, when he turned around I could see that it was Lucius.  He went on a long rant about how muggle borns were going to pay soon, and that he was going to start punishing all of them in school.

          "I just happened to be the first one he had seen I guess because he got this mad glint in his eyes.  He reached for his wand and sent some minor pain curses at me, those that I could handle without too much problem.  But then he sent Crucio at me when he realized I wasn't going to show pain.  God, that was the worse curse, I thought I was being torn from the inside, anyways, before it went too far he stopped. 

          "At first I was confused, but then I heard shouting coming from outside the door, it was Remi looking for me, since he was the only one that knew I was gone.  I guess he scared Lucius off because he left through a secret passageway, I was too weak to take down the charms, let alone call for Remus, so he continued down the hall.  I guess I blacked out after that because the next thing I knew was waking up in the Hospital wing with you next to me.

          "You can imagine the shock I had from seeing you, after all, the last thing you ever said to me was an insult."  Lily stopped to take in a deep breath before smiling and looking over to Severus, who, like Harry was in a state of shock.

          "You know, when I saw you sitting there, the only thought going through my mind was like, 'oh God, I do not need this now.'  It's safe to say that I was completely wrong about that.  When you started speaking, and explaining why you acted the way you did, and that you really wanted to have a normal life with friends, my heart broke for you.  I couldn't stand anyone feeling the pain that you were showing.

          "And when you said that you were the one to find me and bring me to the Hospital Wing, I vowed to myself that I would always be your friend, no matter what you did or said to me."

          "Lily, I never knew, God I want to kill Lucius."

          "Calm down Sev, it's in the past, I just thought you deserved to know."

          "I'm truly grateful for that, but now I think we should get back to school work don't you?"  Severus said, distractedly organizing his books, not looking towards Lily.

          Lily just shook her head bewildered, moving closer to the table and picking up a book.

          Before the vision faded, Harry could have sworn that Severus blushed when they accidentally touched while reaching for the same book.

*~*~*~*~*

          As Harry's vision cleared, he found himself outside standing next to the lake which was frozen over.  Looking around, he saw Severus standing silently, staring out over the lake and a figure coming towards him from the opposite direction that he figured was his mother.

          "Sev, why did we have to meet out here, it's freezing."  Lily complained slightly while rubbing her hands together for warmth.

          Severus turned around, watching Lily as she came up beside him, putting an arm around her waist, he pulled her close.  "I'm sorry, I thought it would be nice to go for a walk or something, enjoy our time together before everyone returns from their homes."

          Lily smiled slightly, totally forgetting she was cold.  "That sounds wonderful, can you believe that the entire school went home for Christmas Break?  It's almost unbelievable."

          Severus just nodded his head while starting to walk around the lake, Lily in his arms.

          Harry had to trot to catch up with them.  

          "Lily, there's something I have to tell you, but I want you to keep an open mind, please."

          "Of course Sev, why wouldn't I?"

          "Just listen.  Do you remember a week ago when I had to go home for a few days on my father's orders?"

          Lily nodded her head, wondering where the conversation was going.

          "Well, he made me meet someone, a friend of the family as he put it.  I had known for a while that my father was submerging himself in the dark arts, but I never knew he was so far gone.  The night that I went home, I met Voldemort, my father put me under an advanced form of Imperio and forced me to take the mark.  

          "I know you'll probably hate me, but I had to tell you, I couldn't keep lying to you, I care too much about you."

          Lily just stood there stunned for a second before her features took on the form of compassion.  "Sev, you have to get help, you can't go to Voldemort, he'll kill you."

          Severus sighs, "I can't, if I do, he'll just kill me faster, I have to do this alone, I can't tell anyone else, I shouldn't have even told you."

          "Severus, if you don't tell anyone, I won't talk to you anymore.  I won't be a friend to someone who puts their life at risk so foolishly."

          Severus abruptly released Lily, turning around, his features icy.  "If that's the way you feel, then I suggest you go back to your dormitory Evans."

          Lily looks hurt before turning around and running back towards the school, she missed the longing look Severus sent her, but Harry saw it before the vision went dark.

*~*~*~*~*

          As the vision settled once again, he found himself to be in the Headmaster's office with both Severus and Albus looking extremely grave.

          "What you have told me is extremely serious, and extremely dangerous.  Are you one hundred percent sure you can handle being a spy?  I could organize it so you never have to go back to your home."

          "I know you could, Headmaster, but with all due respect, I at least owe this to the community after all I've done, all that Voldemort and my father have forced me to do."

          Albus nodded gravely before standing up, "I'll see what I can do for you now, but I suggest you go and get some sleep Mr. Snape, you'll need it for tomorrow."

          "Yes sir, good night sir."  Severus says as he heads out the door.

          Harry follows, wondering why his father had put this memory in the pensieve, only to figure it out as Severus headed towards the library.

          As Severus entered the library, he walked towards the table that was in the first memory, only to find it filled with a couple snuggling, reading out of a book.

          Catching a glint of red hair, Severus paled before sneaking behind the row of books, eavesdropping on the conversation.

          "James, are you sure Madame Pince won't come back here?"

          "Don't worry Lil, besides, all we are doing is reading aren't we, the library only had one copy of this…umm…book."

          "James!"  Lily said in mock outrage, "you don't even know the title of the book?  This excuse is going to work well isn't it?"

          "Hey," James says in surprise, "I make up very good excuses thank you very much."

          "Sure you do, that's why you got a detention earlier for helping the house elves make breakfast?"

          "Okay, I admit that was one of my poorer excuses, but everyone makes mistakes sometimes don't–"  James started to say before he was cut off by Severus walking into the open.

          "I thought you might have been here Evans, I wanted to tell you something but it seems you're occupied."  Here Severus glared at James who looked surprised, Lily just looked shocked.

          Severus just gave the two another glare before heading out of the library, his eyes, and stance forbidding.

          Harry shook his head before waving his wand in a circular motion while muttering 'finite Incantatem.'

*~*~*~*~*

          As Harry fell back onto his bed, he realized he pretty much went through all of the memories inside the pensieve, and that it was almost time for lunch.  Getting up and setting the Pensive on a stand next to his bed, Harry starts to put away all of his presents.

          By the time he was finished with that, he started wondering where Klara went, the last time he saw her was right before he went into the Pensieve.  His question was answered by the soft hissing coming from the floor.

          ßMasster, where did you jusst go?ß

          ßSsorry, I wass looking through ssome of my father'ss memoriess of my mother.ß

          ßMother?  Father?ß

          Harry looks confused for a moment before reaching down to pick up Klara.  ßYess, don't you have parentss?  The two peo– umm ssnakess who gave you life?ß

          Klara does what would be a snake shaking its head.  ßNo, they are jusst what we call the life giverss, the more livess they make, the more respected they are.ß

          Harry just smiles at Klara's or rather, snake's philosophies of life.  ßIn that case, then I wass looking at memoriess from my life giverss.ß

          ßI ssee, anywayss, thiss place hass a lot of mice Masster, plenty for me and lotss of snake-kin.ß

          Harry just shook his head while getting up, Klara curling  herself around his upper arm.  He then walked towards Draco's bed to wake him up for lunch, before heading down to his father's office to tell him that it was time for lunch.

TBC…

AN:  OMG sry for the delay...again guys.  But at least met me explain plz lol.  I've had trouble with my Word program and it's deleted this chapter twice…and then I got grounded…not going into specifics…but anyways….here's chapter 14…and I'm already working on chapter 15…enjoy…R&R

PS: I was hoping for 100 reviews you guys….only three off…o well…guess you can't have everything right?


	16. Chapter 15: Talks and Adventures

**Chapter 15: Talks and Adventures**

After a few days of settling in, in the potion master's rooms, Harry and Draco, along with Severus himself became much closer. Harry and Draco became close friends while Harry's and Severus's relationship became stronger. They all spent their evenings in the living room either chatting quietly, or reading in a companionable silence. During the days, Severus was usually in his potions lab working on healing potions for the school year coming up, and Harry and Draco would spend most of their time in their rooms resting and healing, or taking short walks around the school grounds, regaining their strength back slowly.

Looking up from reading his book on healing potions from Hermione, Harry realizes Klara was slithering towards him along the grass. Reaching down, he smiles gently as she coiled around his arm, her tongue flickering out to taste the air.

ßHello Masster.

ßHey Lara, how wass your hunting today?ß Harry responded as he lays the book down next to him, looking at his friend curiously.

If snakes could sniff, Lara would be doing that as her head swivels around, her tongue tasting his skin softly. ßTerrible. That retched cat in the hallss hass been chassing all my mealss away. I've even had to go into the foresst a few timess to find ssomething!

Harry laughs, shaking his head slightly at his snake's complaints. ßYou alwayss know that if you need food you can jusst assk me and I'll have the housse elvess get you ssomething. You have no need to hunt.

Bristling, Lara stretches up, hissing slightly at his offer. ßMe and any other Ssnake-kin will never rely on another for food! We hunt for our food jusst ass our life-giverss hunted for theirss. If we were to sstop now, when it came time to become life-giverss oursselvess, how would we teach the newlingss to hunt when we do not?

Hiding a grin from his snake, Harry shakes his head, having heard this argument several times before. ßCalm down Lara, I wont force you to accept any food from me, or anyone elsse, I was jusst letting you know that if you needed it, it wass there for you.

Coiling herself around his arm softly, Lara hisses annoyed, ßHmph… you humanss never know when to give up do you?

Laughing softly, Harry picked his book up and started reading from the passage he had left off on, only to be interrupted a second time by a shout coming from behind him. Twisting around, a broad grin spreading across his face as he saw Draco trotting towards him, a latter in his hands.

"Harry! We got our school letters, and Sev said he'd take us to Diagon Alley this weekend!" Draco panted as he reached Harry, dropping to sit on the ground next to him in the shade of the tree.

"Really? He's taking us to Diagon Alley? Pomfrey said it was okay?" Harry asked with enthusiasm, even though he was home when he was at Hogwarts, it just wasn't the same without all the other students there. He realized it was quite boring actually.

Nodding, Draco replied, "Yea, she didn't want to give him the 'okay' but, Sev convinced her we needed to go out for a day, and work on getting our strength back, not that staying in that damned trunk of yours for two hours isn't enough or anything.." Draco trailed off as he saw Harry was just tuning out his complaints.

Laughing, Harry marked his page and set the book back down, grabbing the parchment out of Draco's hand, reading over the list of supplies needed for his fifth year at Hogwarts. "Hmm, the list is a little bit shorter than usual, any idea why that is? In fact, I don't see a book for DADA."

Grabbing the parchment back from Harry, Draco scanned it over before nodding. "Yes, you're correct on that. Never would have thought you'd catch something like that while being so blind and all." He smirked as he shot Harry a challenging look.

"At least I can see well enough not to stand in front of a mirror ever morning fussing over an invisible flaw in your appearance." Harry shot back while getting up from the ground and stretching before offering a hand down to Draco.

Not even thinking about it, Draco accepted the hand up as he opening his mouth to reply only to be caught of guard as a roar broke through the trees in the forest, a few birds flying out of the trees in a panic.

Both boys, turned quickly towards the trees, their eyes wide as they both asked the same question. "What was that?!"

After looking at each other, Harry took a step towards the forest just as Draco took a step towards the school, glancing over his shoulder, Harry raised a questioning eyebrow. "You coming?"

Looking shocked, Draco froze before standing up straight. "No I am not, and neither are you, I'm not letting you run off and get into one of your gryffindorkish adventures, and I am especially not letting you drag me al–" Draco was cut off as he let out an indignant squawk as Harry grabbed his arm, tugging him towards the forest."

"You were saying?" Harry smirked as he glanced back over his shoulder before turning around and walking towards the forest slowly."

"Harry! We're going to get killed! There's, werewolves, and aracamantulas (AN: Spelling? Too lazy to go look it up . ) in there!" Draco said, almost whining as he lets Harry drag him forward a few steps before pulling out of his grasp, walking along side of him.

Harry waves it off, intent on the forest, stopping at the edge. "You don't have to worry about werewolves, the full moon was last week, and aracamantulas don't come out that often unless it's dark, or they're threatened."

"Oh, of course, so let's just walk in and get eaten by that, that thing that roared!"

"Do be quiet Draco, nothing's going to happen." Harry shoots him a half playful, half challenging grin. "I've lived through everything else that's been thrown at me, I doubt anything will happen this time." Looking at Draco one last time, Harry turns around and takes a step into the forest, being surrounded almost instantly by the forests magic.

Muttering to himself, things sounding suspiciously about 'foolish Gryffindorks' and 'bloody hero complexes,' Draco follows Harry into the forest, staying as close to him as possible while trying not to fall over anything in the dark forest floor.

Harry shoots Draco a glare, motioning him to be quiet as they make there way deeper into the trees, light becoming dimmer and dimmer as they continue on. Looking at Harry, Draco sees determination and something else in the boys sparkling emerald eyes.

Harry, feeling Draco's eyes on him tilts his head slightly, blinking in confusion, whispering softly. "What is it?"

"Nothing."

Looking at him in surprise, Harry shrugs mentally and turns back, walking in a direction that was almost tugging him from inside. Watching his step carefully, he still misses a branch and stumbles over it slightly, his arm reaching out to grab a tree to keep him upright. Lifting his head slowly, he stares in front of him, his face flickering from fright, to amazement, and back to fear again.

Draco, seeing Harry starting to stumble, takes a step towards him to see if he was okay before he sees the same thing Harry had seen and freezes, identical thoughts running through their heads.

'You/I just had to bring us here…'

* * *

Walking, well, more like stalking, the Potions Master heads up to Dumbledore's office, having passed the gargoyle already. Lifting the phoenix door knocker, Severus was about ready to knock before Albus's voice sounded through the door.

"Please come in Severus, I've been expecting you."

Shaking his head, not wondering for the first time if the headmaster could read minds, Severus opens the door and walks in, taking a seat across from the headmasters desk, nodding once towards the phoenix sitting on a perch next to the fire place.

"Lemon drop Severus?" The headmaster held out his hand which was holding several lemon drops, his eyes sparkling happily as he himself was sucking on one.

"No thank you headmaster." Severus replied politely.

Nodding almost to himself, Albus took his hand back, dropping the lemon drops back into a bright yellow bag. His hands folding in front of him, he looks calmly at the other room occupant, waiting for Severus to say something.

"Albus, as you probably no already, I'm taking the boys to Diagon Alley this coming weekend. I know it's not safe, but I have a solution to that, as for my question, I was wondering if it would be possible to get Weasely and Granger to meet us there. Call it a belated gift to Harry." Severus asked calmly, sitting back in the chair, his coal black eyes watching the headmaster closely.

Seemingly to be not listening, the headmaster nods half to himself, half towards Severus. "I think that would be wonderful for Harry, he needs his friends now. He may not be showing it, but I think he's still hurting, but I do have to admit that Draco has worked wonders on him, and visa-versa. Yes, I'll call up Molly and ask her if that'll work out right away, Hermione is staying with the Weasely's for the rest of the summer, so that wont be a problem eith–"

Just as before, the headmaster was cut off as the alarms went off about students going into the forbidden forest. Standing up quickly, his thoughts were mirrored by the worried voice of the potions master.

"Harry and Draco! They were just outside!" Severus stood up quickly, ready to fly out the doors and down into the forest to see what was wrong, but was stopped by the headmaster shaking his head.

"No Severus, the forest is too big, and the wards are weak right now because it's summer. The best we can do is wait, and hope they make it back safely. They went in on their own free will, else we would have known something was wrong sooner, you know that."

"I know headmaster, but it doesn't change the fact that Harry and Draco are out in the forest with god knows what.."

"You know as well as I do that since Harry's fifteenth birthday, nothing would dare harm that child." Albus looks at Severus meaningfully over his glasses, his eyes sparkling brighter than usual.

"I know that as well Albus, but it doesn't change the fact that I'm worried, what if something goes wrong, or doesn't realize Harry is who he is before it's too late?"

"I assure you that will not happen to Harry, Severus. Harry and Draco will make it back just fine, in anything, their heads might be a little sore from all the questions they'll be holding if anything does happen. Other then that, they will be perfectly healthy."

Defeated, Severus sits back down into the chair. "Is there anything we can do?"

"Just wait my boy, the only thing anyone can do most of the time is just wait."

* * *

Down in the dungeons, on Harry's bed, a soft hissing could be heard as the egg he had left there for the day wobbled slightly before whatever was inside it settled down again. It's time for awakening was coming soon.

* * *

Hundreds of miles away, the Dark Lord sat on his throne, thumbing through several ancient looking parchments, muttering to himself in parseltongue.

ßSssoon Potter. Sssoon you will be mine and nothing will ssstand in my way!

* * *

* * *

AN: Wow, it's been ages since I've written guys, and I'm so sorry. I know I said I'd get one out around Christmas time, but things just kept popping up…but with the end of the school year getting here… I can start typing again :) Don't... expect chapters all the time though... maybe once a week, maybe less... maybe more, it'll depend on when I feel like typing sorry :(

Second…pretty much ignore all my earlier author notes, especially emails and aim's. I have a new email, and I'm almost never on aim. However, feel free to email me at my new email address à Usaka87hotmail.com. Hmm... I think that's it... I hope you guys like this... And I'm very sorry for the loooong wait...

hides from the tomato throwing people

One more thing… sorry it's kind of short… but I had to get at least something out to you all who have waited patiently for my next update :)


	17. Chapter 16: The Forest

_Previously:_

_ Draco, seeing Harry starting to stumble, takes a step towards him to see if he was okay before he sees the same thing Harry had seen and freezes, identical thoughts running through their heads._

_ 'You/I just had to bring us here…'_

_ Defeated, Severus sits back down into the chair. "Is there anything we can do?"_

_ "Just wait my boy, the only thing anyone can do most of the time is just wait."_

**Chapter 16: The Forest**

Klara traveled through the forest at a quick speed, her scales rustling on the dead leaves on the forest floor. Her tongue flickered out, tasting the air for her master before she changes direction, heading deeper into the forest. If she had been a cat, her hair would have stood on end from anxiety at the other taste upon the air.

* * *

Harry and Draco both looked on in awe at the magnificent creature standing in the small clearing, not fifteen yards from them. Its golden fur ruffling from an unseen breeze, its amber eyes focused on the two young wizards in front of it.  
Roaring out a challenge, the animal rears up on its hind legs, spreading its once-hidden wings wide as he paws at the air in front of him, an obvious challenge. But because the gryphon, because that's what it was, reared back, the chain connected to a tree was seen wrapped around its back, left leg, right above the pay.

Once the gryphon realized that the two wizards weren't coming closer, it settled back to the ground but shuffled around, nervous at their proximity. Harry looked at the gryphon, his eyes sparkling as he saw the mascot of his house for the first time. Draco looked between the gryphon with awe, and Harry with an unknown emotion.

"Draco... It's a gryphon! But, why is it here? And, what's that chain around its leg?" Harry whispered softly, not taking his eyes from the magical creature.

"I can see what it is for myself, Harry. As to why it's here, or what that chain is for, I don't really know. It must be a trap of some sort. But why it would be he- HARRY! No!" Draco had started saying what he knew when he saw Harry start to walk towards the gryphon, his hands held out, palms down in a universal gesture of peace. Draco went to pull Harry back, but Harry easily dodged his hands as he took a few more hesitance steps towards the gryphon.

'Don't worry; I don't want to hurt you. I just want to help you.' Harry kept thinking subconsciously, and at the same time, unknowingly sending out his thoughts. The gryphon, feeling the intentions behind his thoughts relaxed slightly, his tail swishing against the ground as his front paw paws at the dirt softly from nerves.

As Harry took a few more steps closer, he held out his hand towards the gryphon. The curious creature that it was took a few steps closer to Harry, his head reaching out as her sniffs at the hand before nuzzling its beak softly against the hand, deeming it a worth and pure enough smell to come closer.

Draco watched on with awe and not a small amount of fear. He bites his lip, taking out his wand, ready to curse the animal at the first sign he was going to hurt his Harry. Wait… His?

As Draco was lost in his thoughts, Harry had walked until he was right up next to the animal, close enough so he could see the wings, camouflaged against it's back and the mixture of brown and golden yellow furs covering it.

Reaching out tentatively, Harry's fingers brush through the fur in between the neck and the shoulder, his eyes rising up to look into that of the gryphon's, noticing they weren't really amber, but the same color as his fur, brown mixed with golden flecks. After making sure the gryphon wasn't going to attack, Harry kneeled down next to the chain, his eyes not seeing anything other than a normal, seemingly muggle chain.

Following his instinct, Harry reached a hand over the chain, running his fingers over the metal, somehow sensing what needed to be done. Not knowing how he did it, or why, Harry twisted his fingers around the metal and almost instantly he felt it heat up in his hand before one of the links shattered. Almost instantly the gryphon reared back and roared, his wings spreading wide as he leapt into the air. With a few, mighty beats of his wings, he was lifted up and above the tops of the trees, leaving Harry on the ground, having fallen back in surprise with Draco running towards him.

"Harry? Are you okay?" Draco knelt down next to Harry, looking over him for any sort of injury before looking into his emerald eyes.

"Draco… What would you say if I just told you that the gryphon just told me 'thank you'?" Harry whispered quietly, looking up into the stormy grey eyes he had come to know so well.

* * *

Back in the castle, as Harry and Draco came face to face with the gryphon, Albus and Severus were getting more and more worried. After several minutes of Severus pacing back and forth in the Headmasters office, and Albus sitting behind the desk quietly, Severus finally snapped.

"That's it. If you want to stay in this office and do nothing, so be it. I am going to go look for my son and Draco. Whether I find them or not, at least I'll know I was trying something. Whether or not you'll wish to help is up to you Albus." With the final word, Severus turned his back, his black cloak spreading around him like shadows as she stalked out of the doors.

Albus sat for a few seconds thinking over the words that were spoken to him before his eyes became resolute. Standing up gracefully, he swished his wand and a parchment fell on the top of his desk, letting anyone know where they were if someone were to come into his office.

Albus met up with Severus on the outskirts of the forest, both their wands positioned above their palms in the process of 'Point Me' spells. Both pointed into the forest, unknowingly to the two men, but straight at the path that the two young wizards had taken several hours ago.

Severus nodded once towards Albus before heading off into the trees, seemingly swallowing the pale man in his black robes. Albus looked back at the sky, noticing that the sun would be down in a few hours. Hopefully they would get in, and get out with the two rogue wizards before nightfall.

The forest has many secrets hidden within its dark depths that come out only after nightfall.

* * *

AN: … hides in her steel box don't strangle me... Don't hurt me... no matter how much I deserve it! I have... well... I don't have any excuse why I haven't updates in so long… I HAVE been busy... but not enough as to why I haven't updated in almost a year. I got a recent review, today actually in my email, and it pointed out that little fact. To say I was shocked was an understatement.

I'm just, so VERY VERY sorry everyone. Just know that, I'm not going to give up on this story, I won't do that... it just might be a while before you get updates… but they will come. And... I know this is a little shorter than most... but... I wanted to get something out so you weren't stranded on that cliff still. :P

The reason I finally got this out is because mainly of that last review I got, but also because all of you wonderful people who still have me on their favorite list and/or author alerts. I'm not ashamed to admit it... but I NEED people to motivate me to write... My email is and my AIM is Usaka Klara. I know... different then what I told you earlier in the story, but oh well.

I'll ask again... PLEASE pester me to get chapters out, and I'll work on them, 100 guaranteed... the more pestering, the faster I'll work :P

Oh... and Please R&R as always (hopefully it wont take me nearly as long to update next!)


End file.
